Olaf Groth PhD

Day 1 in Kyiv: training local financiers and SME leaders in AI and foresight with the DATAWISE team. This city pulses with agile, frugal innovation, esp. in autonomy & reconnaissance. Beauty, sorrow, strength merge here. Western innovation leaders should pay as close attention as Mastercard does.

July 4th, SFO airport. Meet Alexander, an astro-geologist at NASA examining moon rocks for materials we can use to stage for Mars, helping us lead on the final frontier: space. His gratitude for the chance to dream is what makes this country special: Bold ideas and global talent—that’s our edge.

July 4th is subdued. But I won’t give up on America. We stumble, self-correct, heal. I believe in a brave America that rediscovers its soul—the nation that rebuilt Germany and now helps Ukraine stand tall. That’s why I’m flying to Kyiv to support our friends as they shape a better future for all.

Navigating tech, geopolitics, and the big trends: A conversation with olaf groth Navigating tech, geopolitics, and the big trends

Thanks, Capgemini. It was a pleasure to share my thinking. This is a critically important "liminal" moment for leaders! Design Activist Leaders see new building blocks and envision more resilient system futures. I meet them every day. They just don’t make the news.
www.capgemini.com/insights/res...

20 Minuten Wissen: Harvard, Yale & Co. – Was macht US-Elite-Unis wirklich aus? Podcast Episode · Galileo · 07/01/2025 · 27m

What to make of US #eliteuniversities? How do they compare to China and Germany? What role do they play in innovation and entrepreneurship? Why are they under fire from #Trump? What needs to improve? Listen in on the conversation with the Galileo team.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

Galileo Mehr als nur Fakten! Die Galileo-Redaktion präsentiert atemberaubende Überlebensgeschichten, entdeckt Außergewöhnliches in den entlegensten Winkeln dieser Welt und erklärt komplexes Wissen so unterhal...

galileo.lnk.to/t6zKgA

Thanks, team Galileo @Pro7 and Antonia Neumann-Mangoldt for the engaging interview on the #Trump #tariff game. Re-setting trade terms with #China is a good thing and has taken too long. But tariffs without transformation help for the US economy are bad strategy.
www.prosieben.de/serien/galil...

❓ Many organizations want to get started with AI, but their experiments fail. According to our client @olafgrothsf.bsky.social, their efforts won't succeed if they have unclear business value, are planned poorly or if they lack ROI tracking. Click below to read his fascinating new article👇

Why AI needs smart investment pathways to ensure a sustainable impact AI holds transformative potential, but most projects fail due to poor planning and unclear ROI. Success requires structured investment and clear evaluation frameworks.

Our latest with the World Economic Forum:
💡 The time of aimless AI experimentation is over.
✔️ Explore boldly; Build skills; Leave room for discovery
✔️ But don’t confuse vision with vagueness: Eventually, even the most “strategic” bets must hit the top or bottom line.
www.weforum.org/stories/2025...

YouTube video by Aqparat / Ақпарат Астана халықаралық форумы жалғасуда

My interview on Quazakstan TV (marker 0:30) at #AIF. Central Asia depend on interconnecting sandbox experiments between global AI hubs as countries aim for sovereignty and scale through interoperability. In tough geopolitical times, protocols can achieve progress.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlxj...

For those of you interested in how "The Next Decade of AI Will Redefine Global Power," watch my panel at the Astana International Forum (marker 3:58:40).
Tipping my hat to my fellow panelists Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Patrick Warnking, Jeremy White.
www.youtube.com/live/xd3JyMm...

This is an important report, to which I was happy to contribute in depth.
We often make the mistake of seeing technologies in very narrow fashion, but their impact and scaling happen at convergence points.
Congrats Cathy Li, @World Economic Forum and @Capgemini teams:

WEF.ch/techconvergence2025

Our 6th of 10 filings advancing #data provenance, ownership, #privacy, data sharing.
It empowers users to set their own privacy charter—embedding enforceable rules on access and use. With greater trust and control, creators share more data, fueling the data economy.
🔍 More at www.cambrian.ai

The Gur-e-Amir is one of the world’s first monuments to the Cognitive Economy. 600 yrs ago, Timur’s empire & Ulugh Beg’s science turned Samarkand and Bukhara into global hubs for knowledge. As AI, data, and compute redefine global flows, Central Asia may be regaining its place as a critical bridge.

The Gur-e-Amir is one of the world’s first monuments to the Cognitive Economy. 600 yrs ago, Timur’s empire & Ulugh Beg’s science turned Samarkand and Bukhara into global hubs for knowledge. As AI, data, and compute redefine global flows, Central Asia may be regaining its place as a critical bridge.

My fave moment here in Samarkand, as we admired each other’s hats. All kidding aside, this handsome little man is the future of the new digital #SilkRoad. You’ll meet him soon. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are very young countries with approx. 50% of their pops under 30. Babies and toddlers everywhere.

At Astana Int'l Forum I discussed the importance of carbon neutrality in driving the advancement of #AI, #data, and #compute tech for economic growth on Kazakhstan's channel KZ24. Transitioning to clean electrification makes economic sense. Watch at marker min 1:51:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CnM...

Olaf Groth, PhD on Substack After my last post from the Astana International Forum yesterday, you asked about what kinds of tech exactly are being or could be developed here. My quick answer below. I’d add #robotics for #carbon-...

After my last post yesterday, you asked about what kinds of tech exactly could be developed here. My quick answer here: substack.com/profile/1237.... I’d add #robotics for carbon-positive #minerals extraction. But growth will come from R&D in clean processing and synthetics.

My interview on Azerbaijan’s LIVE TV. Its oil & gas remain key fuel for the #AI, #data and #chip driven #CognitiveEconomy. But while powering growth it has to cut intensity & carbon through renewables + nuclear. The transition isn’t optional — it’s foundational for resilience, jobs, and health.

Spent the past week in Astana, Kazakhstan, and there’s a lot to be excited about here. My quick take as the Astana International Forum closes:

Looking back at the days with Capgemini in Paris, it was remarkable how the actual *builders* of the future are open to and inspired by the challenges of our times and turning them into opportunity. Thank you, Christel Lerouge & Dr. Hinrich Thölken for asking me to contribute to that charge. Cheers!

Thank you, Team Gharysh. That was a great morning discussing Kazakhstan's space industry and its potential in the global space economy. www.instagram.com/reel/DKMp2yh...

Grateful to be speaking at @NUedukz tomorrow, Kazakhstan's hub for top-notch change-makers. "Global Economy 2.0" will be driven by #AI, #data, #chips and emerging #tech colliding with #geoeconomics and #geopolitics, as described in our book The Great Remobilization.
@BerkeleyHaas | @AiCambrian

AI Initiatives Don’t Fail - Organizations Do: Why Companies Need AI Experimentation Sandboxes and Pathways Consider improving the organizational setup.

High failure rates in #AI projects aren’t about the tech, but about how organizations experiment. Most don’t set it up right. Tobias Straube and I (with Joeran Altenberg) lay out what’s going wrong—and how to fix it.
@berkeleyhaas.bsky.social | www.cambrian.ai

cmr.berkeley.edu/2025/05/ai-i...

I’m a global dot-connector, weaving insights—and the best ones “live” in people, not online. Take my friend of 38 years, Helmut Bendig: thoughtful, witty, not one to suffer fools. It’s in his smirk. A perfect 2-hour catchup breakfast on the future of Europe, built on gratitude, trust, respect.

Is the future of US-China innovation is being decided in boardrooms or battlefields? Or project by project—through dialogue, learning, trust, and smart safeguards. Exactly what we explored over a stimulating lunch with my friend and collaborator of 15 years, Chenyang Xu, and his partner Echo Cheng.

Meet Anel Sambetova, a powerwoman from Kazakhstan shaping Central Asia’s future. We had a rich exchange on shifting roles of the #Ruble, #Yuan, #Euro, and #Dollar. Will the #DigitalDollar replace the #PetroDollar —or will the Yuan challenge it? What role for fintech and crypto? Dots connecting fast.

Time to sign books. As @capgeminiglobal.bsky.social ’s #SPARK25 summit kicks off with a super switched-on and fun organizing team, I look forward to exciting, insights-rich days and my talk on Friday. The Great Remobilization is on! @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social

And off we go — part 1 of my travel summer: keynote in Paris, family time near Düsseldorf, panels at AIF in Astana, visits to the gorgeous vestiges of the old Silk Road in Bukhara + Samarkand and maybe a talk in Dubai. Crazy and cool. Very excited! I hope you’ll follow me along here. Cheers!

Time flies in interview shoots when the team (Antonia Neumann & Pete Pitre) is so fun and the scenery is as gorgeous as our campus. A look behind the scenes of our conversation about #tariffs, #AI, advanced manufacturing and the new global economic order for Germany's "Gallileo" show on Pro7.