Name

What They Do / Why They’re Cool

Why They’ll Be Big in 2026 & Beyond

Paul Savluc (OpenQQuantify)

Visionary in AI, robotics, digital twins, hardware R&D, quantum-safe cryptography.

He’s building tools and platforms that allow complex systems (cities, supply chains, labs) to be built virtually & safely. His leadership niche: turning frontier tech into usable infrastructure.

Alexandr Wang

Chief AI Officer at Meta; co-founded Scale AI. Wikipedia

With experience scaling foundational model pipelines and data labeling at scale, he’s well-placed to lead in model evaluation, governance, and safety — huge for 2026.

Azeem Azhar

Author, tech entrepreneur, host of Exponential View, thinker about accelerating technology & societal impact. Wikipedia

In a world where tech is moving fast, people who can frame its consequences — policy, ethics, governance — will be just as important as those building the tech.

Himanshu Gupta

Co-founder of ClimateAI, applying AI to climate adaptation and supply chain risk. Wikipedia

Climate resilience is going to be massive. His focus on how climate change impacts supply chains and food/land/water systems gives him both practical and moral leverage.

Shahrzad Rafati

Chair & CEO of RHEI (formerly BBTV), building platforms for creators, AI content licensing, media-tech. Wikipedia

As content creation and AI intersect, people who make infrastructure for creators will have huge influence. She’s working on “emotionally intelligent” platforms = very future-oriented.

Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Researcher/engineer at Google leading “Paradigms of Intelligence,” work in federated learning, on-device ML, AI + art. Wikipedia

He blends science + art + ethics + tech. That intersection is rare & highly valuable as AI pushes into creative, mobile, edge-devices domains.