The WEF is currently gathering the “leaders of the future” in Dubai, and this is what’s on the agenda
The World Economic Forum is creating a new annual meeting for the next generation of global leaders. From October 13 to 15, 2026, the “Global Future Leaders” will convene for the first time in Dubai.
The agenda will include artificial intelligence, robotics, geopolitical security, and technologies that are increasingly encroaching on human habitats.
The @wef’s inaugural Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders will take place from the 13-15 October in #Dubai.
In collaboration with the Government of the United Arab Emirates, this new next‑generation leadership platform brings together emerging leaders under 40 and senior global leaders to discuss what’s needed to shape the decade ahead.
Find out more about #AMGFL26 here: https://t.co/dJtqpu9OwK
@UAEmediaoffice
— World Economic Forum (@wef) October 5, 2026
The Sociable reports, citing the World Economic Forum’s program planning, that the new meeting will bring together young leaders under 40 with established decision-makers from politics, business, science, and technology.
Recognizing people through walls
Particularly noteworthy is the announced presentation by MIT researcher and WEF Young Global Leader Fadel Adib.
Adib is working on wireless technologies that use radio or Wi-Fi signals to gather information about people and objects, even when they are not directly visible. The Sociable cites, among others, research on detecting and tracking human movements behind walls, reconstructing human postures, and capturing physiological signals.
The technology utilizes the fact that radio signals can penetrate walls and be reflected by the human body. Algorithms analyse these reflections and can reconstruct movements or other information from them.
What may originally be of interest for medical applications, rescue operations, or the support of elderly people inevitably has a second dimension: A technology that can capture people without a camera and without direct visual contact raises significant questions about privacy and surveillance.
Where does man end, and where does machine begin?
Another program item is entitled “The Human-Machine Line”.
Behind this is robotics researcher Madeline Gannon, who studies the interaction between humans and machines. Gannon had already spoken at the WEF meeting in China about how the social acceptance of robots depends not only on what machines can do, but also on how people perceive them emotionally and interact with them.
The debate has long since moved beyond classic industrial robots. It’s about machines that are increasingly being integrated into human work and living spaces – and about the question of how people can be led to accept this presence as a matter of course.
AI and “human agency”
The WEF has designated six key thematic areas for the meeting. These include AI and human agency, science and innovation, economic growth, geopolitics and security, leadership and the economy, and climate and nature.
The phrase “AI and Human Agency” is noteworthy – that is, artificial intelligence and human agency. This boundary becomes crucial with the increasing automation of societal decisions: Who ultimately decides – the human, the institution, or the algorithm?
The WEF wants to explore possible futures
In addition, there are so-called “Unknown Tomorrows.” Participants are encouraged to explore possible future scenarios and examine developments whose impact is not yet fully foreseeable.
In addition, “Opportunity Labs” are planned, in which participants will work together on solutions.
This meeting is therefore more than just another conference on new technologies. It specifically brings together those people who are destined to assume leadership positions in politics, business, science, and technology in the future – and confronts them with technologies and societal models that could shape our future.
A new generation for a technologized world
The WEF refers to them as “Global Future Leaders.” But the topics reveal what these future leaders are being prepared for: AI as a societal decision-maker, robots in everyday life, new forms of human-machine interaction, and sensors that can detect people even behind walls.
None of these technologies is inherently a tool for surveillance or control. Many have legitimate medical, industrial, or security-related applications. But these same skills can also be used in other ways.
And that is precisely why it is crucial who controls these technologies, what limits are set, and whether the population even has a say in this.
While these questions are hardly discussed in society, the World Economic Forum in Dubai is already bringing together the generation that could be involved in their political and economic implementation.
yogaesoteric
October 14, 2026