Bloomberg New Economy
2026 Program

• John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg

• Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg L.P. & Bloomberg Philanthropies

• Erik Schatzker, Editorial Director, New Economy

As AI adoption spreads and accelerates, it’s provoking structural shifts across the economic landscape. While the full extent of this impact is years away, policymakers are already wrestling with the consequences. How will central banks adjust if productivity decouples from traditional labor market and inflation dynamics? How will governments respond if economic value overwhelmingly shifts to capital, energy and compute? Are existing policy frameworks even flexible enough to absorb the risks to fiscal stability and the social contract?

As emerging economies increasingly drive global growth, industrial expansion and technological transformation, a bottleneck is forming in capital flows. Foreign direct investment in developing countries has stagnated in recent years, even as demand surges for essential physical and digital infrastructure. Yet some investors deploy capital consistently, despite volatility, political uncertainty and currency risk. What conditions, policies and partnerships are enabling those decisions — and could they offer a framework for scaling investment across the emerging world?

For almost two whole generations, investors built strategies on a foundation of globalization, declining rates, political stability and disinflation. Today, every pillar of that structure is being tested if not failing. The nature of risk has changed and with it the rules of the game. Where are investors still relying on assumptions that no longer fit the world ahead? 

AI is compressing the cycle of scientific discovery in ways that were implausible just a few years ago. Already, from drug discovery to materials science to climate modeling, AI has identified patterns and generated hypotheses that human scientists may never have reached on their own. In the process, the very nature of scientific inquiry — how we ask questions, test ideas and define the boundaries of the knowable — may itself be changing. Perhaps the only question is where to concentrate resources so that the promising possibilities become real breakthroughs.

Presentation on the global race for technological supremacy.

The next phase of the AI economy will depend not only on advances in technology, but on the ability to build at unprecedented scale. Power generation, transmission systems, data centers, engineering talent and industrial infrastructure are all emerging as critical constraints on AI growth. As governments and companies race to expand AI capabilities, will physics be the binding constraint on a digital future? 

Few athletes know the pressures of elite competition as intimately as Rory McIlroy. Drawing on nearly two decades at the highest level of golf, McIlroy reflects on ambition, resilience and leadership. The conversation will also look outward at a period of profound change in professional sport: the globalization of audiences and capital, the growing commercial power of athletes, and the forces reshaping golf itself.

Every country wants greater control over the critical technologies that power its economy: AI, semiconductors, the cloud and the infrastructure connecting them. But technological sovereignty doesn’t mean technological self-sufficiency. Few countries can build the entire stack themselves, meaning choices about partners, platforms and supply chains are increasingly strategic. Where does national capability matter most? How much control can governments realistically demand while retaining access to the world’s best technology? And can countries build resilience without fragmenting the global technology ecosystem?

Critical minerals, semiconductors, energy, food—they’ve all become levers of power in a post-Pax world, and the scramble to secure them is redefining the global economy. Governments that once preached open markets now subsidize domestic industries, restrict exports and court resource-rich states. Yet self-sufficiency has a price: duplicated capacity, higher costs, strained alliances. Where’s the dividing line between strategic autonomy and economic self-harm? What does the right balance look like?

With the US turning inward and forsaking the global order it once maintained, the world’s “middle powers” face a choice. They can cooperate on security guarantees, open markets, reserve-currency regimes and rules-based institutions, or they can accept a new paradigm of competing blocs and transactional relationships. And if they can agree in principle, how would everything from trade to capital flows to common defense operate in practice?

Technology, geopolitics, climate and demographics are reshaping the global economy faster than most organizations can respond. Yet failing to adapt has never come at a higher cost. What choices must leaders make to move decisively amid uncertainty, rewrite strategy in real time and build institutions capable of continuous reinvention?

A fundamental rethink of global supply chains has been underway since the pandemic — but the map keeps changing. “China-Plus-1” isn’t enough. With every war, geopolitical shock or industrial transformation, new trade routes and sourcing strategies risk becoming inadequate or even obsolete. How much resilience and optionality are possible when the disruptions themselves are constant?

Examining the future of global energy demand and supplies.

The demand curve is clear. Now comes the harder question: Who builds the supply, how fast and at what cost? From grid modernization and LNG to next-generation nuclear, SMRs and the distant but tantalizing promise of fusion, the technology exists in various states of readiness. Who provides the financing, creates the regulatory framework and demonstrates the political will to satisfy a world whose appetite for power is growing faster than the ability to generate it cleanly, reliably and at scale?

Among shifting global alliances and political uncertainty on a global scale, companies are rethinking where to invest, manufacture and innovate. In this environment, countries are competing for entrepreneurs, talent and high-growth businesses, as well as capital.

What is the role of governments in creating the conditions for the private sector to flourish? What is the ideal balance of stable regulation, strategic infrastructure, access to finance and globally connected markets? And what is the key to enabling economies to be both resilient and competitive in the face of intense competition as well as political and technological disruption? This panel explores how governments and business leaders are working together to unlock private sector growth, and what distinguishes the economies that will attract the world’s next generation of businesses.

The question is no longer whether to adopt AI but how to do it well. Most enterprise deployments stall between proof-of-concept and production line — promising in the demo, disappointing at scale. It’s time to move beyond ROI to the harder problem facing every executive: how to deploy AI across the full stack — infrastructure, integration, adoption — in a way that’s accessible, cost-effective and safe enough to trust in high-value decisions. What separates the companies getting real returns from those still stuck in the pilot phase?

India is the consensus overweight of the decade. Its growth is real, its demographics are the envy of the world and global capital has never been more interested. But great fundamentals don’t necessarily equal great returns. China proved that — two decades of spectacular economic growth that rewarded investors unevenly at best. Will India be different? Where is money actually being made (and lost)? What has to go right? What could go wrong?

Digitization has become a leveling force for developing economies. India, for example, democratized access to finance and slashed transaction costs, establishing a public infrastructure that spans payments, identity and health records, and laying a data-rich foundation for AI adoption. With sovereign control over such systems, governments can curb the influence of foreign intermediaries and legacy frameworks such as dollarization. Is there a blueprint for transformation on this scale? Does it demand too much state capacity, public trust and political will? How involved should the private sector be? What happens to security and privacy when a nation’s economic life runs on one architecture?

The extraterrestrial economy is already booming. Satellites play a critical role in financial markets, disaster response and precision agriculture; orbital data centers may be just years away; so far, 55 countries have signed the Artemis Accords on space exploitation. But commercialization is still in its infancy. The decisions being made now — about debris management, resource rights and the boundary between civilian and military use — will determine who defines the new space economy and on whose terms.

Renewable energy has acquired new urgency. Once championed for emissions reduction, it’s now a fulcrum of economic growth. In developed markets, solar and wind are central to the AI revolution. In the Global South, they’re an essential unlock to industrial expansion and energy security. The challenge in both cases is mobilizing the necessary capital, modernizing the electrical grid and building resilient supply chains. Will investment and infrastructure keep pace with the global thirst for power? What happens if China tightens its grip on solar equipment, batteries and critical minerals? Can renewables meet the surge in electricity demand without sacrificing reliability or affordability?

Soft power is an increasingly important tool of global influence, shaping how countries are seen through culture, values and storytelling. India offers a striking example, with its global reach in film, music, fashion, wellness and diaspora networks. But can cultural influence meaningfully shift power in a world still shaped by economics, technology and military strength?