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Responsible AI for a digital world
How do we ensure AI is trustworthy in an era of rapid technological change?
Baroness Joanna Shields, Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation, says it starts with principles of responsible AI and a commitment to ethical development.
Shields explains that her foundation’s work “is about empowering everyone equally and enabling others to level up and be part of this revolution,” highlighting its focus on guiding the ethical development and use of AI.
She emphasizes the critical importance of information integrity, warning that AI systems trained on social media data risk amplifying conspiracy theories and divisive content. Reflecting on her experience at Meta, Shields notes, “Models that are trained with social media data… will further embed and create communities where people are… exposed to damaging content,” underscoring the need for transparency and awareness in AI-generated information.
Shields shared these insights at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit panel “Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World,” part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series in partnership with Microsoft, which brings together global leaders to discuss the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
Agentic AI: How it could reshape identity and politics
As AI begins to understand us better than we understand ourselves, who will decide how it shapes our world?
Ian Bremmer cautions, "The winner or the winners are going to determine in large part what society looks like, what the motivating ideologies are." He stresses that AI’s direction is driven not by technology alone, but by the humans who design and program these systems.
"That's kind of why you need the UN and you need responsible AI governance as part of the conversation," Bremmer adds.
Ian spoke at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit panel “Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World,” part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series in partnership with Microsoft. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical discussions on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
How society plays an active role in shaping the future with AI
Who really shapes and influences the development of AI? The creators or the users?
Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42, argues it’s both. “I actually do not subscribe that the creators have so much control they can program every intent into this technology so users can only just respond and be part of that design,” he explains. He stresses, “The more a society uses AI, the more we can influence the development of it. We are co-creators, co-influencers of this technology.”
Highlighting the UAE’s national AI strategy, Xiao points to Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, where undergraduates as young as 16 are founding their own companies.
The UAE has also launched programs teaching AI to learners aged 7 to 70 and is deploying billions of AI agents to augment productivity across industries, including oil, cybersecurity, and agriculture.
Xiao spoke at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit panel “Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World,” part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series in partnership with Microsoft. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical discussions on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
The three skills everyone needs to thrive in the AI era
As artificial intelligence transforms work, how do organizations equip people with the skills to thrive?
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, says the answer lies in understanding a new landscape of AI skills.
Speaking at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit, Smith outlined three key skills needed in the AI era:
1. AI fluency, the ability to use AI tools effectively;
2. AI engineering, focused on building advanced AI applications; and
3. Organizational leadership, which emphasizes guiding teams through cultural and operational change
He also highlighted global disparities in AI adoption: “We are in the global capital today of AI adoption … the UAE leads the world with roughly a 59% per capita adoption rate … the United States is only 29%.”
Smith shared these insights during the panel “Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World,” part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series in partnership with Microsoft, which brings together global leaders to discuss the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
Inclusion by design: Rebeca Grynspan on AI, inequality & global reform
As AI reshapes the global economy, who gets left behind and how can developing nations catch up?
At the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan warns that without deliberate action, the world’s poorest countries risk exclusion from the AI revolution. “There is no way that trickle down will make the trick,” she tells GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis. “We have to think about inclusion by design.”
Grynspan stresses that financing and investment, not just aid, are critical: “3.4 billion people live in countries spending more on debt service than on health or education.” She calls for the World Bank and IMF to “assume more risk” to help scale private investment in developing economies.
Despite rising tariffs and trade tensions, she notes trade remains resilient driven by digital services, AI innovation, and the growing need for smarter global cooperation.
This conversation is part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, presented in partnership with Microsoft.
Global Stage: Bringing AI tech, trust, and talent to the world
AI is the fastest-growing general-purpose technology in history but its benefits are uneven. Half the world lacks the combined foundations of electricity, internet access, and digital skills needed to use AI at all.
In this Global Stage panel, Becky Anderson (CNN) leads a candid discussion on how to close that gap with Brad Smith (Vice Chair & President, Microsoft), Peng Xiao (CEO, G42), Ian Bremmer (President & Founder, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media), and Baroness Joanna Shields (Executive Chair, Responsible AI Future Foundation).
What does “AI diffusion” actually require? Power first, then connectivity, then skills. As Brad Smith explains, “You can’t build AI in the sky, it needs a foundation: electricity, internet, and digital skills.” The panel explores the hard realities of energy capacity, data-center diplomacy, and why grid investment will determine which nations can compete in the next phase of AI development.
Building on that theme, Peng Xiao underscores the centrality of energy to progress: “The cost of intelligence will become the cost of energy.” His company, G42, is expanding AI infrastructure from the Gulf to Africa and Southeast Asia, leveraging regional power resources to unlock broader access.
From AI fluency to AI engineering and organizational change, the conversation also breaks down the capabilities countries need and how local ecosystems can create jobs rather than replace them. Ian Bremmer reminds the audience that geopolitics and skilling are linked: “AI is geopolitical by design. The winners who shape the algorithms will shape society.”
As AI races ahead of some societies’ ability to adapt, the panel highlights the UAE’s investment in national AI education, from early-age programs to university-level innovation, as a model for inclusive growth.
How do we embed responsibility into models, content, and agentic workflows? Baroness Joanna Shields calls this a defining moment: “This is a civilization-uplift moment we can’t afford to miss.” She stresses that responsible AI means empowering everyone equally, ensuring that local cultures, values, and languages shape the systems built for them.
The discussion explores emerging tools like watermarking and auditable agent interactions, alongside the global governance efforts led by the UN and multistakeholder coalitions, to balance innovation and accountability across regions.
The Global Stage series, presented by GZERO Media in partnership with Microsoft, convenes leaders from government, business, and civil society at major international forums to examine the critical issues at the intersection of technology, politics, and society, and to explore how global cooperation can deliver solutions in an era of accelerating change.
Live premiere today at 11 AM ET: Global Stage at the Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit
LIVE PREMIERE TODAY AT 11 AM ET: What does it take to build AI economies? Our global experts explore this question, touching on data infrastructure, skilling, and governance, in a conversation at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit.
Watch our live premiere of "Global Stage: Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World" today at 11:00 AM ET at gzeromedia.com/globalstage. The panel was recorded live in front of an audience of global leaders, investors, and technologists attending the Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit, presented by G42, Microsoft, the Responsible AI Future Foundation (RAIFF) AI Future Foundation (RAIFF), and Eurasia Group. The event was held on November 2-3 at the Abu Dhabi Energy Center.
The discussion is moderated by CNN anchor Becky Anderson, and will feature a distinguished panel including Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; Baroness Joanna Shields, Executive Chair, Responsible AI Future Foundation; Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft; and Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42.
This livestream is the latest in the award-winning Global Stage series, a partnership between GZERO and Microsoft that examines critical issues at the intersection of technology, politics, and society.
Join us on Monday, November 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET at gzeromedia.com/globalstage to watch the live premiere.
Live Premiere from the Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit | Global Stage: Bringing AI Technology, Trust, and Talent to the World
How AI is transforming cybersecurity
She notes that half of cyber incidents now involve ransomware or extortion and warns that attacks once considered business risks have become “a societal challenge,” targeting hospitals and critical systems with life-or-death consequences.
Monaco calls on governments, the private sector, and civil society to “pool our resources, pool our expertise” to build collective resilience against these growing threats.
She spoke with GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis at the 2025 Paris Peace Forum panel, “Collective Resilience in the Age of AI,” part of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series with Microsoft.