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7 experts at Davos share what’s on the horizon for 2025

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Dava Newman, Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory, USA speaking in the Closer to the Final Frontier? session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 19 January. Congress Centre - Salon Room.  Copyright: World Economic Forum/Sikarin Fon Thanachaiary

Experts at Davos offer a horizon scan on what's shaping the Intelligent Age Image: Flickr

Abhinav Chugh
Content and Partnerships Lead, World Economic Forum
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
  • The Intelligent Age will fundamentally transform how we live, work, and create, requiring us to adapt our technical capabilities and our ways of thinking, collaborating and solving problems.
  • Leading at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 offer horizon scans to uncover the threats, opportunities and trends shaping the Intelligent Age.
  • The meeting in Davos, Switzerland, convenes almost 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, demonstrating the critical need for dialogue in an increasingly uncertain era.

The programme for the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, opens a constructive dialogue between leaders in government, business and civil society around collaboration in the Intelligent Age.

We are entering an era that reaches far beyond technology alone. This is a societal revolution that has the power to elevate humanity – or indeed, fracture it.

At the 2025 meeting, we asked leading experts about the challenges and opportunities in their fields. Through horizon scans powered by the Forum’s Strategic Intelligence, they shared insights on the disruptions and emerging trends reshaping their domains.

These experts will dig deeper into these horizon scans during dedicated briefings at Davos; readers can use the digital programme to tune in.

Peter Lee, President, Microsoft Research

Healthcare transformation: Despite its reputation for being slow-moving, the healthcare sector is being rapidly transformed by generative AI (GenAI).

GenAI is being rapidly adopted in healthcare and helping address critical challenges in an overburdened system. Practical applications such as automated clinical note-taking can reduce administrative burdens, freeing up more time for patient care.

Soon, AI “copilot” tools will help detect errors, increase efficiency and reduce cognitive overload – potentially enhancing satisfaction for clinicians and patients. Emerging uses that extract untapped insights from health data in ways that connect “bedside to bench” should accelerate medical discoveries and improve outcomes.

The societal benefits will be immense, improving access, reducing costs, empowering clinicians and ultimately making communities healthier worldwide. Leaders in all sectors should watch healthcare closely as a bellwether for AI’s broader progress.

Davos 2025 Horizon Scan: Peter Lee
Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon Scan: Peter Lee

Dava Newman, Director, MIT Media Labs

Space commercialization: The total value of the global space economy is estimated to surpass $1.8 trillion by 2035.

Advanced technologies and new sources of capital are driving the rapidly growing global space economy, which is projected to exceed $1.8 trillion by 2035 – up from $630 billion in 2023.

Characterized by shorter development cycles, decreased launch costs, new economic models and a growing number of private space companies, “new space” is transforming the sector from traditional government or military dominance to a more dynamic and balanced, commercially driven ecosystem that is shaping the future of space exploration and utilization.

As the International Space Station (ISS) is poised to be phased out in 2030 or beyond, next-generation space stations are in development to ensure human presence in low Earth orbit. The development of commercial low Earth orbit destinations is varied.

Axiom Space plans to launch its initial module in 2025 – attached at first to the ISS, while Orbital Reef, led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space – aims to create a mixed-use business park in space by the late 2020s. Starlab is proposing a commercial space station through a joint venture among Voyager Space, Airbus Group, Mitsubishi Corporation and MDA Space.

Another company, Vast Space, is planning to build the first commercial space station, possibly with artificial gravity. While all the commercial activity is helping accelerate human expansion into space, concerns are being raised as to how sustainable these activities in Earth’s orbit are in the long term.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon Scan: Dava Newman

Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO, Colossal

Creating a de-extinction toolkit: This suite of solutions makes it possible to bring back lost sciences and build resilience for critically endangered and threatened species.

A de-extinction toolkit is a collection of hardware, software and wetware solutions that can reintroduce lost traits, as well as advanced cloning techniques, and genomic libraries to preserve and utilize genetic data.

Much like the development of early computing systems, creating a standardized set of tools for de-extinction means that scientists can respond more rapidly, collectively and with greater ease to address the extinction crisis.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon Scan: Ben Lamm
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Jake Loosararian, Co-Founder and CEO, Gecko Robotics

Data fidelity: There is no standard for rating data fidelity.

At CES 2025, Nvidia announced Cosmos to the world – an open model for training embodied AI systems, built on a corpus of visual data collected by Nvidia. As these models become ubiquitous, the differentiator for companies using embodied AI will be the quality of novel datasets that they invest in developing.

Across industries, there is no standardized way to measure the fidelity of existing datasets. Platforms that allow companies to interrogate the quality of their data – and combine high-fidelity datasets – will have a competitive advantage over others that fail to adopt these platforms.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon Scan: Jake Loosararian

Henry Markram, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Digital brains: The development of digital brains isn’t just about creating more powerful computers – it’s about understanding and replicating the fundamental principles that allow complex adaptive systems to generate intelligence, adaptability and efficiency.

Digital brains are more than just a new technology; they represent a fundamental shift in understanding and replicating intelligence.

By recognizing the brain as a complex adaptive system and attempting to replicate its systemic nature, we open new possibilities for addressing complex challenges across multiple interconnected domains.

The true potential of digital brains lies not just in their individual applications but in their ability to transform entire systems of human activity through cascading effects and feedback loops.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon Scan: Henry Markram

Sabrina Maniscalco, CEO and Co-Founder, Algorithmiq

First-mover advantage in quantum: Those who delay adopting quantum technology risk missing out on opportunities to shape a transformative field.

The early adopters of quantum technology – companies, public sector institutions or governments – are positioned to lead the market and capture significant economic and strategic value. Early action to procure solutions from innovative startups will help establish leadership and foster a thriving quantum ecosystem.

As quantum computing transitions into its commercial phase, competition for limited resources – talent, hardware, software and expertise – is intensifying.

Governments can play a pivotal role by de-risking adoption through public sector procurement of quantum solutions, which will accelerate real-world deployment and validation. Investors who secure early related intellectual property will also benefit from a rapid scaling up of quantum technologies.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon scan: Sabrina Maniscalco

Philip Reiner, CEO and Founder, Institute for Security and Technology

GenAI and cognitive security: We need to move away from “gamified” engagement-based measures toward bottom-up models that prioritize cognitive well-being and user autonomy.

As GenAI systems evolve through 2030, their human-like interactions and emotional intelligence capabilities could fundamentally reshape cognitive patterns and social structures in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

While these systems offer unprecedented personalization and accessibility, their increasing sophistication in mimicking human connection threatens to create a widespread cognitive dependency that could erode critical thinking, authentic social bonds and collective decision-making capabilities.

The integration of these systems into daily life, coupled with their ability to exploit emotional vulnerabilities and encourage addictive behaviours, risks creating a generation whose mental models and reasoning abilities are fundamentally altered by AI-mediated experiences.

To navigate this transformative decade, stakeholders must proactively shape the development of “cognitively responsible” AI systems that enhance rather than diminish human capabilities.

Image: World Economic Forum; Image: Horizon scan: Philip Reiner
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Contents
Peter Lee, President, Microsoft ResearchDava Newman, Director, MIT Media LabsBen Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO, ColossalJake Loosararian, Co-Founder and CEO, Gecko RoboticsHenry Markram, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSabrina Maniscalco, CEO and Co-Founder, AlgorithmiqPhilip Reiner, CEO and Founder, Institute for Security and Technology

How interactive 'Scenario Game' helps navigate uncertainty and develop foresight

Jan Oliver Schwarz and Katharina Kleine

February 18, 2025

4:24

What leaders should prioritize in 2025

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