Emergence is a phenomenon whereby large entities are the result of interactions between smaller or more simple entities. In the realm of the internet, dissemination of knowledge is no longer central making it possible to build complex platforms by working with freelancers and even people we do not know or will ever meet.

While keeping in mind that we have seen this work well with open source platforms we use in the Fintech space, the question I pose is whether or not this is a suitable model for any type of business? Will all future monolithic systems be the product of an emergent technological system?

A mentor of mine at a previous firm once said to me, "It isn’t how big you build the castle, but rather, how deep you dig the moat". This business strategy does not lend itself to an emergent system. So, are we really entering a new phase of technological systems or is it just another passing fad?

In the macro perspective, we are supposed to be infinitely smarter using methods of self-teaching, thus, a person/engineer located in Jakarta can know as much as my developers in NYC. Theoretically, it’s possible. However, from the micro perspective, the skills needed to understand the intricacies of building a solution might leave some features by the way side due to the lack of understanding of what is needed to support a specific business case.

From a technological perspective, platform building using smaller micro services seems to be advantageous as small components can be removed and supplemented in the future, thereby making a modular system seem favorable. Another manifestation of emergence is to offer an open API for people to build their own extension to a platform. However, what we want to achieve is even deeper, so can we build meaningful components using a frame of reference set by our business and let the platform manifest itself and grow organically?

We believe in the process of self-teaching and that we can contribute to projects that we aren’t very knowledgeable about, and we believe that these contributions are worthwhile even if they are not on point. truePTS believes in the emergent technology system of the future with all of the risk that it bears.

Simplification = easier self-learning = improved platform formation = better feedback cycle = faster innovation….. and that is what we are all about at truePTS.