Anticipating 2026

When we started this Podcast back in August 2022, we, Calum and David, announced the theme to be “Anticipating and managing exponential impact”. We talked about three sub-themes: Developing the skills of exponential foresight; Distinguishing between scenarios, whether they were plausible or implausible, and whether they were desirable or undesirable; and thirdly, Supporting the community of collaborative exponential foresight. 126 episodes later, as we reach the transition between 2025 and 2026, it’s a good time for the two of us to take stock.Accordingly, in this episode, we each pick out a number of events from the last 12 months which we see as potential signals of larger exponential impact ahead.Selected follow-ups:An MIT report that 95% of AI pilots fail spooked investors - by Jeremy KahnThe Shape of AI: Jaggedness, Bottlenecks and Salients - by Ethan MollickThe Road To Superintelligence - by CalumAI Doomers, Accelerationists & Scouts - Digital DisruptionThe Economic Singularity - book by CalumHow can better foresight actually improve the world? - Webinar in the series "From forecasts to levers"Disrupting the first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign - AnthropicMajor Neuromorphic Computing projects - listed by ConsciumWhy AI Agent Verification Is A Critical Industry - by CalumClimate change and populism: Grounds for optimism? - LFP episode with Matt BurgessWhat's Our Problem? - book by Tim UrbanOpenAI and Retro Biosciences achieve 50x increase in expressing stem cell reprogramming markersProgress at LEVF, December 2025 - by DavidUK BiobankThe THRIVE Act - Regenerative Medicine FoundationMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationC-Suite PerspectivesElevate how you lead with insight from today’s most influential executives.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify