GENEVA, Switzerland — World Economic Forum President and CEO Borge Brende is pushing for a new, faster model of global cooperation that helps developing economies share in the AI boom rather than be left behind by it, Dec. 13, 2025.
The pitch is optimistic — but not naive. Brende says the age of sweeping, consensus-heavy deals is fading, replaced by practical, “disordered” cooperation built around narrow problems, quick wins and shared incentives.
Borge Brende’s cooperation reboot: pragmatic, not perfect
In the World Economic Forum’s Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 press release, Brende pointed to evidence that collaboration has “flatlined” amid rising tensions — even as new technologies accelerate change. Still, he stressed that cooperation is “possible within today’s more turbulent context.”
His remedy: stop waiting for perfect alignment. Build “coalitions for outcomes” that can deliver results — from digital rules to investment pipelines — even when partners compete elsewhere. The approach is laid out in a World Economic Forum essay on reinventing cooperation, which argues the geopolitical dial won’t turn back, so cooperation has to adapt.
Tech-driven growth can’t happen if countries can’t get online
For developing economies, the stakes are immediate. The International Telecommunication Union says 6 billion people are online in 2025, but 2.2 billion remain offline and only 23% of people in low-income countries use the internet, according to its Facts and Figures 2025 press release. It also estimates 5G reaches 84% of people in high-income countries versus 4% in low-income countries.
That gap matters because AI doesn’t scale on slogans. It scales on bandwidth, affordable devices, stable electricity, trustworthy data systems and people trained to build and work with new tools. The World Bank flagged the same risk in its World Development Report 2016 on Digital Dividends, saying technology’s benefits lag without “analog complements” such as competition, skills and accountable institutions.
Borge Brende: the AI race is real, and emerging markets should compete
Brende’s optimism rests on a big bet: the next productivity surge can be broader than the last — if access widens. In a recent IMD conversation, he said new technologies will be “the driver of growth for decades,” urging leaders to focus on capability-building alongside risk management.
But he also sees a sharper edge. In a CNN transcript from Dubai, Borge Brende said, “The countries that want to come out of this decade as the strongest will be those that are on top of the new technologies.” The implication for emerging markets: leapfrog now, or watch the next boom concentrate elsewhere.
The bottom line of Borge Brende’s call is less idealism than competitive realism: build cooperation that delivers. In practice, that means moving fast on three tracks:
Build the rails: De-risk connectivity and power so advanced tech can be used locally.
Scale skills: Train workers and public institutions so adoption turns into jobs.
Set rules: Create predictable cross-border frameworks so startups and capital can grow safely.
Continuity check: This is a long-running theme for Borge Brende. In a 2020 Project Syndicate column, he argued the world still had time to steer toward cooperation over confrontation — a message he’s now recasting as a prerequisite for inclusive, tech-driven growth.
