The market's recent downturn has tested even the most steadfast investors. With the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 0.64%) -- an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of the benchmark S&P 500 -- down nearly 7% (at the time of this writing) in 2025 amid escalating trade tensions, many investors are questioning their core holdings.

I've taken the opposite approach. Namely, I'm actively increasing my position in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF during this pullback. Far from a contrarian gamble, this decision reflects a conviction that three powerful technological transformations will make today's fears temporary footnotes in a much larger story of American innovation and growth. Read on to find out more.

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The knowledge worker revolution is just beginning

Remember when artificial intelligence (AI) merely autocompleted your Google searches? Those days are long gone. Today's AI systems have evolved into true productivity multipliers, fundamentally transforming knowledge work across every major industry.

While headlines often focus on job displacement, the bigger story is how AI is supercharging human capability. Lawyers using AI assistants report completing contract reviews in a fifth of the time. Software engineers leveraging AI coding tools are shipping features twice as fast. Healthcare providers using AI documentation platforms are seeing more patients with less administrative burnout -- all according to recent industry reports.

This productivity revolution benefits S&P 500 companies in two critical ways. First, major AI technology providers -- Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon -- comprise over 15% of the index. Second, many of the remaining 487+ companies are rapidly adopting AI to improve margins, accelerate innovation, and deliver better customer experiences.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF gives investors broad exposure to both the creators and adopters of these transformative technologies.

Physical automation is solving labor shortages

For decades, robotics overpromised and underdelivered -- effective in tightly controlled environments but fragile in the real world. Two major shifts are changing that: advances in machine learning and persistent labor shortages across developed economies.

Today's robots, powered by AI, can handle tasks that once required human judgment. Warehouse robots now recognize and pick irregular objects from jumbled bins. Agricultural robots harvest individual fruits at peak ripeness. Manufacturing robots adapt to supply variations without needing reprogramming.

This evolution could not have arrived at a better time. With more than two-million manufacturing positions poised to go unfilled in the U.S. by 2030, American companies are embracing automation not to replace workers, but because workers simply are not available. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF offers exposure to companies building this game-changing automation infrastructure and to manufacturers integrating it to close growing labor gaps.

Transportation is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation

The third technological wave reshaping the economy is the emergence of autonomous transportation. After years of slower-than-expected progress, several forces are driving a true inflection point.

Breakthroughs in foundation models have dramatically improved computer vision. Regulatory frameworks for autonomous vehicles are maturing across multiple states. Meanwhile, driver shortages in logistics, transit, and ride-sharing are creating enormous incentives to accelerate autonomy solutions.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF allows investors to participate across the entire autonomous value chain -- from chipmakers like Nvidia and Qualcomm, to vehicle manufacturers like Tesla and General Motors, to logistics companies like FedEx and UPS poised to cut transportation costs. The efficiency gains from driverless tech should significantly boost profit margins and earnings over the balance of the decade.

Building wealth through transformation

With an industry-leading 0.03% expense ratio and a 10-year average annual return of 12.4% through 2024, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF offers an unparalleled combination of performance and cost efficiency. But the fund's most important strength lies not in its historical returns but in its unique ability to evolve with the economy.

VOO Total Return Level data by YCharts.

When I invest in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, I'm not buying yesterday's economy; I'm buying a continuously updating portfolio of America's most innovative and resilient businesses. As older industries fade and newer ones emerge, the index refreshes to reflect the real drivers of growth.

What's the bottom line? Today's headlines around trade tensions will eventually fade. What won't fade is the relentless march of technological progress. By steadily buying the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF through this turbulence, I'm positioning my portfolio to benefit from the forces that will shape the global economy in the next decade and beyond.