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When Steve Jobs died, there was a lot of talk about who would be the next Steve Jobs. But the truth is, rarely can one person reshape the future. And breakthroughs are almost never the work of corporate titans.

Still, new technologies and the people who create them can give us a glimpse of what our future might look like. So as we head into 2013 here are my picks of five interesting technologists to keep an eye on.

In Silicon Valley and around the world there are thousands of folks toiling away on new technologies, convinced that the thing they are building will transform the way we live. And sometimes they are right.

And my final nerd to watch — Eddy Cue — is perched on the top of the world.

Cue runs software and Internet services at Apple. His portfolio includes iTunes and the App Store. After the Apple Maps debacle last year and the departure of Scott Forstall, Cue inherited Maps, and Siri as well.

Apple became the wealthiest, most valuable technology company in the world by creating new categories of mobile devices and ushering in the post-PC era. But many analysts believe that dominating the businesses Apple helped create won't hinge on the design of devices as much as the quality of service those devices deliver.

We want our mobile phones to give us directions, tell us about our commute before we leave the garage and help us find the best places to eat. Those are areas where Apple arguably lags behind the competition.

It's Cue's job to catch up. And if Apple is going to create a new multibillion-dollar market by reinventing TV, Cue will play a big role there as well.

But he won't do any of this alone.

In fact none of the men and women I just mentioned do much of anything alone. As Parviz pointed out at a recent TED talk, "I would hazard a guess that the era of the solo star scientist is probably over."

Today's big problems are so complex — so interdisciplinary — that all of these people make their marks working in teams.