Frequently asked questions

The Digital Disruption Matrix is an annual barometer published by the ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair at ESSEC Business School that ranks the year's most disruptive digital technologies and maps their impact across major industry sectors.

It is built on data from hundreds of global industry reports, peer-reviewed academic papers, patent filings, unicorn and startup data, a survey of more than 1,000 industry professionals, and in-depth expert interviews. The Matrix is designed for leaders and policymakers who want a clear, data-driven and human-informed view of digital disruption.

Technology is no longer just an IT topic. It is increasingly strategic, touching competitiveness, sovereignty, industrial resilience and policy. At the same time, leaders face a flood of informational noise, hype and FOMO. The Matrix was built to cut through that with a data-driven, human-informed read on where disruption is real, where it is accelerating, and where the blind spots are.

It is produced by the ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair at ESSEC Business School, led by Executive Director Jérémy Beaufils and Professor of Information Systems Jan Ondrus. It is supported by chair partners BNP Paribas and Sia.

The Matrix tracks five transformative technologies across ten industry sectors. The technologies are Descriptive AI, Agentic & Generative AI, Quantum Computing, Physical AI & Robotics, and Blockchain & Decentralized Systems.

The ten sectors are Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Financial Services, Information Technology, Communication & Creative Services, Real Estate, and Auto/Transport. The shortlist was selected by a college of around 40 experts and may evolve between editions to stay relevant to the current technological landscape.

The Disruption Score is a composite index that blends several independent streams of evidence into a single value on a 0 to 100 scale, where a higher score indicates stronger disruptive intensity for a technology in a given industry.

It combines research and innovation activity (academic publications and patent filings, measured by both volume and year-over-year momentum), investment traction (startup and unicorn activity, including funding for unicorns), and field validation (a survey of more than 1,000 professionals rating each technology's expected impact and timeline on their industry).

Each input is scored, weighted, and combined, so the result reflects both hard data and practitioner perception. The same method is applied consistently across all technologies and sectors so scores stay comparable.

The data and methodology behind the Matrix are proprietary, but the Chair is happy to explain how the data is collected and analyzed. The methodology combines quantitative metrics, academic and patent publication volume, unicorn volume and funding, and startup creation volume, with qualitative inputs from a survey of more than 1,000 professionals and expert interviews.

For a detailed walkthrough, email digitaldisruption@essec.edu.

The Chair has additional sector-specific data and insights available for professionals across all ten industries covered by the Matrix. Contact us at digitaldisruption@essec.edu with details about your sector of interest.

Yes. The Chair offers detailed presentations for organizations and industry groups, providing custom insights relevant to your specific context. Email digitaldisruption@essec.edu to discuss your requirements.

For academic citations, please use the following format:

Yes. Journalists are welcome to quote the Digital Disruption Matrix in their reporting, with attribution to the ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair, ESSEC Business School. For press inquiries, interviews with our experts, or additional data points, contact digitaldisruption@essec.edu.

Researchers, industry experts, and prospective partners who would like to contribute to a future edition can reach the Chair at digitaldisruption@essec.edu.