Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, presents the case that the world is entering a fourth distinct industrial revolution — following those driven by steam, electricity, and digital computing — characterized by the convergence of physical, digital, and biological technologies at a pace and scale unprecedented in human history. The technologies Schwab identifies as driving this convergence include artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, and quantum computing. Unlike previous industrial revolutions that transformed specific sectors or production methods, the fourth industrial revolution is disrupting virtually every industry simultaneously and reshaping the fundamental assumptions of economic production, labor, and value creation. Schwab is notably candid about both the extraordinary opportunity this creates — potentially solving major global challenges in health, energy, and resource constraints — and the profound risks, including unprecedented concentration of economic power, massive labor market disruption that could dramatically worsen inequality, erosion of privacy and autonomy through ubiquitous surveillance, and the weaponization of new technologies. Originally published in 2016 based on a World Economic Forum research program, the book has aged well as a framework for thinking about technological change even as specific predictions have required updating. A compact and accessible introduction to the forces reshaping the global economy.