5 Ideas to Build a Better Future

TIME asked five of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders to share their transformative ideas for 2025.

Embrace tech for accessibility

Birgit Skarstein

Recently I experienced the remarkable benefits of a self-driving car, giving me a sneak peek into a transformative future. As a wheelchair user, navigating travel is often fraught with challenges, such as inaccessible public transportation and a lack of suitable rental cars. However, this autonomous vehicle smoothly took me from one appointment to the next, bypassing the usual barriers to mobility. Its advanced technology not only facilitated my travel but also enhanced my own autonomy, ensuring that my paralyzed legs did not impede my busy schedule.

In 2025, we find ourselves at the brink of a transformative era, marked by profound advancements in technology and in artificial intelligence. These developments are set to redefine virtually every facet of human life. An area particularly ripe for transformation is the use of advanced technologies to benefit people living with impairments. 

My vision for a better future is a world where AI and emerging technologies are deliberately designed to amplify the abilities of those with disabilities. 

AI can be harnessed to create adaptive technologies that go beyond basic accessibility, offering tools that are profoundly integrated into daily life and tailored to individual needs. For instance, AI-driven devices could convert spoken language into sign language in real time, or customize educational environments to fit the unique learning styles and speeds of people with cognitive disabilities. Moreover, smart prosthetics and mobility aids that learn and adapt to their user’s patterns could significantly enhance autonomy and mobility, reducing physical limitations.

By focusing our collective intellect and compassion toward developing inclusive technology, we can ensure that the Intelligent Age we’re entering doesn’t just advance humanity as a whole, but that it empowers and enriches the lives of all individuals. This commitment will make the promise of technology a reality for everyone, turning potential barriers into powerful bridges to participation and expanding the ability to contribute.

In this pivotal year at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, let us champion AI as a tool for inclusion, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to both benefit from and contribute to our shared future.

Skarstein is a Norwegian Paralympic rowing champion and chair of Future Advisory Board at Reitan Retail

Invest in African talent

Ronit Avni

African job seekers remain under-utilized despite the presence of a growing, highly skilled talent pool. Employers often prefer to hire engineering and business talent from long-established tech hubs such as India, Poland, Israel, and the U.S. The number of companies actively seeking African talent remains far smaller than it should be, given the size of the eligible candidate pool. Yet, persuading employers to change course is often an uphill battle.

A wave of new job opportunities is emerging, however, with millions of roles expected to be created over the next few years. These positions—driven by new regulatory and reporting requirements on carbon emissions and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance affecting over a dozen countries, from the U.K. to Singapore—currently lack established regional talent hubs. This shift presents an exciting opportunity for African candidates with green skills to leapfrog ahead and play a central role in the green talent revolution.

Much as India has risen as a formidable engineering hub, Africa has the potential to lead the way in carbon and ESG talent. Achieving this will require strategic investment to build candidates’ carbon intelligence now, while raising employers’ awareness of this talent pool, so that the continent can seize on this transformative moment.

Avni is the CEO of Localized

Universal AI inclusion

Bolor-Erdene Battsengel

AI has already become a driving force in health care, education, agriculture, and beyond. Yet, its power is concentrated in the hands of very few people, leaving many developing countries and emerging markets excluded from its benefits. Right now, 2.2 billion people lack internet access, let alone AI tools.

I’d love to see AI education become as accessible as literacy. I want to see herders in the nomadic community of Mongolia using AI to predict weather patterns, or a small-business owner in Peru leveraging AI to improve the efficiency of her business. I want to see young girls using AI for personalized education to pursue their dreams.

This is not about technical skills or preparing the labor force in the tech industry. This is about encouraging communities to question biases in AI platforms, advocate for fair and inclusive technology, and build tools that align with their unique needs. Governments, tech companies, international organizations, and educators must collaborate to deliver localized, inclusive AI education programs, especially in emerging markets and unprivileged communities.

Battsengel is the former Vice Minister of Digital Development of Mongolia

Democratize film

Bhumi Pednekar

AI has the potential to democratize filmmaking, expand access to educational films, and improve the industry for marginalized groups.

I have witnessed the power of storytelling and the impact it can have in my country. I acted in the 2017 film Toilet Ek Prem Katha (Toilet, A Love Story), which addressed the issue of open defecation (ODF). The film used a comedic and romantic tone to comment on various themes, from how lack of sanitation creates gender disparity and puts women at risk, to the health hazards of a lack of indoor plumbing. The film became a catalyst for change in India and was used as part of the government’s campaign to eradicate ODF. The film was used across rural India, where the problem primarily existed, as an easy-to-understand educational tool. The proportion of the population defecating in the open declined significantly from 2016 to 2022, following government efforts and the film’s release.

Advances in tech and visual effects could help stories like this have even more impact. Imagine showing the same film, but modified by AI for global audiences, ensuring the message resonates across languages and regions.

As an actor and an advocate for equality, I’m most excited about how AI is going to democratize storytelling. I have chosen roles that challenge prevalent beauty standards and center women and marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. But there are still too few films made with the female gaze or telling queer stories. High production costs and perceived market risks often deter studios from investing in them. But AI has the power to change that. By lowering the costs of production and shortening the filmmaking process, AI can make female-centric films a sustainable business model.

AI could also help make the industry safer for women and marginalized groups by automating unbiased casting processes and identifying patterns of misconduct. And tools could even assist in determining an individual’s fair and impartial compensation.

Pednekar is an actor and activist

AI literacy for workers

May Habib

Layoffs amid AI-fueled restructuring are making headlines, but companies that rush toward an AI-led future without bringing their employees along will find themselves at a disadvantage.

Instead of cutting jobs, what if companies reimagined them? What if every employee were given the chance and the tools to adapt their role alongside AI?

The builders of tomorrow won’t be who you expect. As AI becomes deeply embedded into our workflows, next-generation builders won’t be just tech experts, they’ll be problem solvers, bold creatives, and strategic thinkers. They’ll come from across your organization, spanning operational leaders, design and systems thinkers, and frontline users who can grasp AI’s potential and turn it into real-world impact.

With 40% of the workforce needing new skills in the next three years to keep pace with AI, leaders across the board will need to rethink how they build their teams. It won’t be as easy as running a few training programs and hoping they stick. Building an AI-first workforce will require a deliberate, top-down shift across the entire organization. Leaders need to embrace change, challenge outdated processes, and invest time and resources to help employees thrive. After all, AI systems are only as strong as the diverse perspectives behind them.

When companies commit to this shift, the potential is unstoppable: productivity, industry-defining customer experiences, and breakthrough solutions to our most mission-critical problems.

Habib is CEO and co-founder of Writer