Expert Chat: Igor Tasic Explains Metaverse for Business

We were delighted to welcome Igor Tasic, founder of Meta Ventures, a metaverse-first advisory company, to EU Business School for a masterclass on the metaverse. We were given a taste of the future, as he spoke to us from his virtual office inside the metaverse to share his expert insights on how this new technology will transform the way we learn, work and connect.

What is the metaverse?

For Igor, the metaverse is a natural evolution of the internet. He describes it as “a hybrid where we can blend our digital and physical existence in just one fluid metaverse, where our lives can be enhanced by both the physical and the digital”.

The human aspect, however, is key: technology is used to improve our lives, but ultimately it remains a tool. The goal is the promotion of better human-to-human connections. Igor provided a striking visual demonstration of this by showing us a Neolithic arrowhead and a VR headset, explaining: “I have this 9,000-year-old arrow – this is an actual Neolithic arrow. And our ancestors used to use this just to hunt and feed the family, feed the tribe. But this is a tool, so the difference between this [arrow] and this [VR headset] is just 9,000 years.” We tend to “mystify” technology, believes Igor, and forget that its role is to enhance our lives. We should “not be enslaved by technology” but remember that technology serves us. We can use technology to help us become more productive and efficient at work, for example. But we should use the metaverse to put the focus “on the content, and the human behind that content,” rather than the technology that makes it possible, the Meta Ventures founder explained.

He pointed out that most of us already live blended lives, moving easily between the physical and the digital, and so “the metaverse – or this new wave of the internet – is just a platform for us to grow as professionals, to grow our businesses, if we are truly open-minded.”

What are the main advantages of the metaverse?

There are three principal advantages to the metaverse, according to Igor.

1. Immersion

“If you can get immersed, you can experience content in a whole new way,” explains Igor. For businesses, the metaverse is a great way to get closer to customers, suppliers and staff – everyone in the whole value chain, in fact – by providing a whole host of different ways to interact.

2. Productivity

All businesses want to be more productive, and the metaverse space, argues Igor, allows companies to apply technological resources more effectively, saving time, enhancing productivity and putting the focus on creation rather than the technology that provides the framework.

3. Fostering human-to-human connections

“There’s no such thing as a business relationship without human interaction,” declares Igor. The metaverse offers the potential to expand and deepen human connections, by giving users a wider range of ways in which to interact. He believes that, if you “take the technology out of the equation and focus on the human, then the metaverse will be an additional value for any business operating anywhere”.

What kind of professional opportunities will the metaverse provide? Igor believes that the metaverse will offer professional opportunities to “the three Cs: the creators, the curators and the connectors”. He suggests that there is enormous potential in the future for anyone who positions themselves in these three areas. – The creators are those who create the content, as well as those who can bring “the best of their human ingenuity in the form of art, learning, or new business venture creation”. – The curators are those who can sift through the vast amounts of material available online, much of it poor quality, and select the best in order to apply it effectively to a business.

And, finally, the connectors are those who are able to connect communities so that the creators and the curators can perform most effectively. As Igor points out, “We already have the infrastructure, we already have the content. I think it’s now a question of curating this content and curating this infrastructure to have a better experience of human knowledge.”

Advice for students and young professionals who want to work in the metaverse

EU Business School students, and everyone who is currently at the start of their professional journeys, are already early adopters of the metaverse in a sense, because they move easily between the physical and digital worlds, believes Igor. In order to prepare themselves for a future in which the metaverse will play an increasingly large role, they should think about how to create better or more immersive experiences for new ventures, and how to integrate the physical and the digital into a cohesive story that will grow businesses. Currently, the two areas in which the metaverse offers the most exciting possibilities, according to Igor, are “the world of learning and the world of working.” He adds, “I think we can have better learning experiences and better work experiences by integrating this metaverse existence.” Igor suggests integrating new technologies into CVs is one of the most effective ways that young people can sell themselves in the labor market and demonstrate their readiness to move into the metaverse professional space. According to Igor, the key to success in the metaverse is to have an open mind. This means being open to doing business in all kinds of situations, in all kinds of formats, whether digital or physical. It’s less about placing the focus on the technology itself and more about adopting it as a natural progression of the internet: a new way of doing business.

Watch Igor Tasic share his expert insights on the metaverse here!