Fusion energy to quantum computing: Frontier technologies are already redefining leadership

Each year, our company, Frontiers, co‑publishes the Top Ten Emerging Technologies report with the World Economic Forum, identifying the technologies most likely to scale into widespread use within a five‑to‑ten‑year timeframe.

Its methodology – and the discussions within the expert committee – offer a clear view of how quickly we can act on major global challenges and highlights the urgency for global leadership to adapt.

These technologies are coming online now to shape quality of life, healthcare, environmental sustainability and information systems. Global leaders in innovation, business and policy must make critical decisions as this unprecedented wave of technological change takes form.

Fusion energy, quantum computing, advanced intelligence models, new materials and bioengineering are moving rapidly from theory to prototypes, pilots and products. Far more than “new tools,” these are frontier technologies.

And they are beginning to influence how countries think about power, citizen well-being, security and prosperity; their development and deployment are becoming a kind of “diplomacy by other means.”

In the coming decade, the most effective leaders will be those who can connect what is happening in fusion reactors, quantum labs and bio‑foundries to the choices they make on policy, investment and governance. In many ways, frontier technologies are already redefining what good leadership looks like.

Organizations and even national institutions may have to consider the evolving geopolitical context in the short term, with supply chains and trade relationships shifting. However, frontier technologies are reminding leaders of the value of basing their foresight on trusted technical expertise.

In our Emerging Technologies report, for example, we report that nuclear fusion may require decades to achieve net power gains, yet the plan to deploy it must be made now. It is the same for quantum computing, for which encryption standards, critical infrastructure and industrial strategy must all be set long before the most powerful machines come online.

As our report emphasises, strategic foresight is critical. It’s not enough to ask, “What can these technologies do today?” Leaders have to ask, “What happens when they mature, converge with other technologies, spread and impact both friends and foes?”

It is worth running scenarios on what abundant clean energy would do to geopolitics, how post-quantum security might reshape finance or what widespread gene editing could mean for health systems and biosecurity?

The point is not to predict the future perfectly. It is to use the best available expertise to steer toward a shifting target. Foresight means being able to act early with moves that only make sense once you look a decade ahead instead of only at the next quarter.

The ripple effects of technologies are not easily visible, especially when we know we tend to fall into linear thinking patterns. Ministries, companies and research labs cannot fully understand the impacts of their work while they remain in silos.

For example, power demands for artificial intelligence (AI) systems have implications for climate targets, grid planning, industrial productivity and the business models of cloud providers. Similarly, advances in synthetic biology and gene editing are converging with other technologies and cutting across agriculture, healthcare, security and ethics.

Leading in such a complex landscape requires integrating diverse priorities, risks and potential outcomes. In this context, responsibility sits at the intersection of science, regulation and public trust.

In essence, leadership becomes a collective intelligence exercise. The people in charge need to create spaces where scientists, policymakers, executives, investors and civil society can pool their knowledge and stress-test assumptions.

They also need to listen actively to voices ordinarily at the margins, including communities who will live with the consequences but may not have a voice at the table.

Systems leadership in the context of frontier technologies means anticipating how the technology will affect multiple domains at once, not just within a single organization or sector.

As technologies such as AI, synthetic biology, quantum computing, advanced materials and fusion converge, the role of leaders is to connect scientific progress with decisions on policy, investment, security and societal well-being in ways that strengthen global collaboration.

Effective systems leaders don’t only ask, “Can we build this?” They ask, “Which system effects are we creating if we deploy this – and who wins, who loses?” They operate at the intersection of science, regulation, markets and public trust, shaping the conditions under which frontier technologies are developed, governed and shared.

Let’s again take the example of fusion. Public and private investment is accelerating and several actors are aiming for grid‑connected fusion power in the 2030s. At the same time, governments are launching milestone‑based fusion programmes, while international collaborations continue to serve as important test beds.

Together, these efforts demand coordination across standards, regulations, supply chains and talent development at the system level.

This is where systems leadership comes in. The greatest benefits for each of us are attainable if we work together. It is about seeing the wider ecosystem – standards bodies, funding flows, educational models, public communication and international norms – and being willing to invest in those shared resources.

Leaders who do this well will help their countries and companies gain durable influence.

Frontier technologies are central to how power, well-being, prosperity and security will be defined in the 21st century.

For policymakers and executives to lead effectively , they will need to put informed, long-term foresight back into everyday decision-making, treat leadership as a collective intelligence process and invest in systems-level governance rather than chase individual headlines about “breakthroughs.”

Innovative leaders are leading at the frontiers where technologies will impact governance models for the next generation.

The leaders who are willing to learn alongside scientists and society will be the ones who set the example today and help the world navigate the world of tomorrow. This is exactly the purpose of the Frontiers Science House, which will operate during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2026.