The metaverse is something here now—not tomorrow—and it will impact every part of every business, said Accenture CTO Paul Daugherty.

“It is the time to stake your claim in the metaverse,” he said. “The exponential pace of technology change is going to continue, and the applicability to every part of what you do is going to continue.”

During a keynote address at the Dublin, Ireland-based solution provider’s Technology Vision event Wednesday, Daugherty highlighted in a what the metaverse is, the trends surrounding it, and the impact it will have.

“Every business is a digital business,” he said. “That‘s the moment we’re in today with the metaverse. It is a different future going forward. It matters for every company in every part of what you do.”

He identified the metaverse as the future of the internet that will enable new worlds to bridge virtual and real experiences, virtual and real identity, and places. Businesses will need to reimagine the possibilities because it‘s about charting a course, according to Daugherty.

“Start in a small and focused way that matters for your business. Then get ready to scale fast because this is coming at us fast, and you need the ability to do that very rapidly,” he said.

“There‘s a tremendous amount of hype around it,” he said. “It’s probably the most talked-about technology topic we’ve seen this decade. We‘re just getting started. The client interest that we’re seeing across industries has really been amazing. We really are talking about the future of the internet, the next evolution of the internet and creating these new opportunities.”

In his presentation, Daugherty outlined what the metaverse means for businesses today and how to craft strategies to take advantage of it.