Sentence:  The executive paid tribute to research and development and technology for their great contributions in the past , but he also cautioned industry that they tend to <WSD>be</WSD> great equalizers because they move at a fairly even pace within an industry and fail to give it the short-term advantage which it often needs . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)