Emerging Undercurrents: The Transition From Legacy to Emergent

The future rarely arrives in plain sight. 

It begins as undercurrents—signals that appear disconnected at first but eventually reveal how the larger system is changing. At PTC Colab in 2024, Futurist Eddie Soehnel explored the 80- to 100-year secular cycles that repeat throughout history, where we are in the current cycle, and what may come next. In 2025, he outlined the major paradigms likely to define the next cycle—what he calls emergent—and contrasted them with the legacy paradigms that shaped the past 80 years. Throughout 2026 and into 2027, telling undercurrents are revealing how that transition may unfold. In this session, Eddie will connect these signals to what they mean for the United States and the paddling industry: the opportunities they may create, the landmines they may expose, and how the industry can position for these undercurrents.

Presented by Eddie Soehnel, Futurist