The #metaverse has the potential to impact everything from employee engagement to the customer experience, omnichannel sales and marketing, product innovation, and community building. Examining its potential effect should be part of strategy discussions, with leaders accelerating their analysis of how the metaverse could drive a very different world within the next decade.

Of course, many questions remain to be answered including how virtual worlds will be balanced with the physical world to ensure the metaverse is built in a responsible manner, how it can be a safe environment for consumers, how closely it will align with the “open” vision of the next iteration of the internet, and whether technology can advance quickly enough to build the metaverse of our imagination.

The metaverse technology stack has four core building blocks: content and experiences, platforms (such as game engines), infrastructure and hardware (including devices and networks), and enablers (such as payment mechanisms and security).

Large technology companies, venture capital, private equity, start-ups, and established brands are seeking to capitalize on the metaverse opportunity. Corporations, venture capital, and private equity have already invested more than $120 billion in the metaverse in the first five months of 2022, more than double the $57 billion invested in all of 2021, a large part of it is driven by Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision for $69 billion. However, experts say, Metaverse is a double-edged sword.

With the vast and sophisticated data that will be collected within the metaverse, cybercriminals will be looking for ways to hack and game the system. Prevention of money laundering, microtransactions, intellectual property, and identity theft should be prioritized by financial firms building a metaverse, or offering products and services in one, so users feel safe using this technology. Because, as the saying goes, “with great power.