Evidence is emerging that society is on the brink of a third industrial revolution that will have digitalization and globalization as its main characteristics. In this context, it is important to understand what defines an industrial revolution and what should businesses and individuals expect from this process, typically spanning the course of a few decades. We are limited in our predictions of the course and full consequences of this change. Society has previously been affected by two more industrial revolutions that were different in terms of process and applicability, but not in terms of large scale consequences. We will argue that while we know that the transition will impact many lives and companies and it should result in the emergence of a newly structured economical world, it is impossible to make accurate predictions regarding the small scale of single businesses, individuals or limited geographical regions