A Report from the Ahead Roundtable on AI and Geopolitical Power at the Munich Security Conference 2026
Ahead is publishing “Who Governs the Intelligence Age?”, a policy report written with our knowledge partner, the Esya Centre. It carries the insights from the roundtable beyond the room, into policy, investment and public debate.
Where it began
On February 13, 2026, during the Munich Security Conference, Ahead convened a roundtable called “Artificial Intelligence as a Geopolitical Force: Rethinking Diplomacy and Governance in an Era of Disorder.” It was hosted at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Munich. Around the table were legislators, cybersecurity experts, academics, political leaders, entrepreneurs, multilateral voices and young leaders.
The report builds on that exchange and tests it against the Esya Centre’s empirical research.
What the report argues
AI is becoming part of the operating system of geopolitical power. The contest isn’t just about who builds the most capable model. It’s about who controls compute, capital, cloud, chips, standards and talent, and who gets to decide what the technology is for.
The report draws seven conclusions:
- Sovereignty is the capacity to choose, not a fantasy of isolation.
- Europe needs applied capability, commercial scale and strategic investment, not only regulatory distinction.
- Europe’s main weakness is the gap between rules and implementation.
- Preparedness and adaptability matter more than fixed forecasts or speculation about artificial general intelligence.
- AI security is moving from model risk to system exposure, as AI agents multiply the attack surface.
- African states must be co-authors, not downstream adopters, of global frameworks.
- Who sits in the decision-making room is itself a governance variable.
It closes with ten propositions for action. They range from creating a “Brussels business effect,” where trustworthy AI is profitable as well as compliant, to financing African implementation and treating participation as a measure of influence.
Why it matters
Representation isn’t a closing paragraph about inclusion. It changes which risks are seen, which opportunities count and whose future is being designed. A narrower room might have reached a cleaner consensus. It would almost certainly have given a poorer diagnosis. This report shows what happens when people usually treated as the audience help write the agenda.
Our thanks go to every participant who contributed, to Udo Bux and the European Parliament Liaison Office for hosting us, to the Esya Centre for its partnership and to Bitsight, knowledge partner.
[Download the full report → Here]