How Gen Z Is Setting the Agenda for the Future of Consumer Tech
Puneet Gulati is a visionary business leader redefining India’s consumer and technology landscape with innovation, creativity, and purpose. With a rich legacy across industries such as F&B, telecom, and e-Commerce, he combines strategic insight with bold entrepreneurship. His passion for building transformative brands reflects a deep belief in democratizing technology and inspiring modern consumers to experience quality, authenticity, and meaningful impact in every product.
In a recent interaction with Mandvi Singh, Managing Editor at siliconindia, Puneet Gulati, shared his insights on ‘How Gen Z Is Setting the Agenda for the Future of Consumer Tech’.
Gen Z is redefining consumer tech with purpose and precision, driving a shift toward immersive, ethical, and value-driven innovation where technology aligns with authenticity, sustainability, and human connection. Their expectations go far beyond performance they demand responsibility, transparency, and control. With a growing insistence on ethical AI integration and data sovereignty, Gen Z is reshaping how future smart devices are conceived and built. This generation views privacy not as a feature but as a fundamental right, compelling the industry to rethink centralized data architectures.
We’re already witnessing the early shift from cloud-dependent ecosystems to decentralized, edge-based computing models where processing happens closer to the device, ensuring user data remains private and secure. This decentralization not only enhances trust but also improves real-time responsiveness, energy efficiency, and personalization.
Gen Z isn’t just redefining technology they’re demanding a future where innovation meets integrity, and intelligence serves humanity.
Moreover, Gen Z’s ethical lens toward AI is inspiring manufacturers to build systems that are explainable, bias-aware, and transparent in how they collect and process data. The next wave of smart devices will be designed around accountability with privacy-by-design principles embedded from inception rather than added later.
In core, Gen Z is catalyzing a paradigm shift, technology that’s not just intelligent but also ethical, sovereign, and human-centered. Their demands are ensuring that the architecture of future devices aligns not only with innovation but also with integrity.
Redefining Reality with Gen Z’s Phygital World
Gen Z is driving a cultural and technological shift where digital experiences are no longer passive but deeply immersive and participatory. Their demand for authenticity and engagement is pushing the boundaries of how augmented reality wearables and social platforms interact. We’re witnessing the rise of shared virtual environments spaces where users can collaborate, create, and socialize in real time through AR-driven interactions. These experiences blur the line between digital and physical worlds, giving rise to a new era of ‘phygital’ engagement.
From virtual concerts and fashion try-ons to immersive classrooms and collaborative design, Gen Z’s expectations are shaping ecosystems that are dynamic, personalized, and emotionally resonant. The convergence of AR, social connectivity, and intelligent tech is setting the stage for a future where entertainment, creativity, and community coexist in a seamless, interactive digital layer surrounding our everyday lives.
The Era of Modern Conscious Manufacturing
Gen Z’s socio-political consumerism is one of the most powerful forces reshaping modern manufacturing. This generation doesn’t just buy products they buy into values. Their realistic, impact-oriented mindset is driving companies to adopt sustainable tech practices not as a trend, but as a strategic necessity. The demand for transparency, ethical sourcing, and environmental accountability is accelerating the shift toward biodegradable electronics and circular economy models.
In response, manufacturers are reimagining everything from material design to end-of-life product recovery. We’re seeing an increasing focus on modular designs that allow easy repair, recycling, and component reuse moving away from the disposable culture of traditional electronics. This is not only changing the supply chain but also redefining the concept of ownership and longevity in consumer gadgets.
For businesses, aligning with Gen Z’s expectations isn’t optional, it's integral to long-term relevance. The convergence of green innovation, tech intelligence, and responsible production is setting the blueprint for the future of the consumer tech industry. Sustainability is no longer a CSR statement, it’s a competitive advantage, and those who adapt early will define the next era of meaningful, conscious innovation.
Also Read: How Technology Is Addressing Changing Customer Behaviour And Growing Expectations
The Rise of Scroll Commerce
Gen Z’s buying behavior is rewriting the rules of commerce. With nearly half of their purchases happening directly through social platforms like Instagram, brands are being pushed to meet consumers where they already spend their time in hyper-personalized digital ecosystems. This shift is accelerating the evolution of AI-driven recommendation engines that analyze behavioral cues, content engagement, and micro-interactions in real time to deliver highly relevant product suggestions.
What’s emerging is a frictionless blend of content and commerce where discovery, intent, and purchase happen in one scroll. For consumer tech, this means smarter algorithms, deeper contextual understanding, and seamless in-app experiences that feel intuitive rather than transactional.
In essence, Gen Z doesn’t just want convenience, they expect curation. AI is becoming the silent enabler, turning social influence into instant action and transforming passive browsing into immersive, predictive retail journeys.
