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Compute vs concrete: For investors, not a binary choice

There will be winners on both sides, as software capability leans more heavily on physical assets

    • Do not build portfolios as though the future belongs only to asset-light digital champions or only to heavy industrial incumbents, says the writer.
    • Do not build portfolios as though the future belongs only to asset-light digital champions or only to heavy industrial incumbents, says the writer. PHOTO: PEXELS
    Published Tue, Apr 28, 2026 · 03:58 PM

    IN THE last decade, markets fell in love with companies that travelled light. No factories. No cables. No concrete. Just code, scale and margins that seemed to expand by themselves.

    That world view is starting to crack.

    The reason can be summed up in a single word that is quietly returning to the global vocabulary: autarky.

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