I attended Nexus 2025 in Luxembourg, not knowing what to expect other than that most of the talks and most of the startups attending were somehow related to AI. However, once there, the various lectures and presentations made me realise that AI is truly here to stay and that there is no way to survive it if we don’t adapt. Here is a list of things I think are essential for us to survive the next big tech wave.
AI is not here to replace us
A lot of alarmists will tell you that AI is here to take our jobs, and we will be replaced by robots. However, through all the discussions and presentations — even the alarmist ones — it didn’t seem like AI was anywhere close to replacing humans; it still needs humans to verify and give direction, and in fact it would be aimless and lost if it weren’t for the human holding the reins. For example, one of the panelists on ‘Journalistic Integrity in the Age of AI’ said they can now cover topics that were initially difficult to cover, such as science. They would typically need to hire a subject matter expert. This sort of expert would be hard to find. However, with AI, they can summarise the research into an article that readers can understand.
Augment, adapt, or get extinct
Luxembourg PM Luc Frieden (R) and Arthur Mensch at the conclave
AI is upon us, and the writing is on the wall; those who don’t use AI in their work today will fall behind their colleagues who do. As a worker or job seeker, you need to identify how AI can enhance your current workflow and begin learning to implement it as soon as possible. This could be as simple as redrafting an email or spell-checking your presentation, but to succeed, you need to familiarise yourself with the tools at your disposal and learn how to use them effectively. Even if you don’t know programming, try your hand at vibe programming or generating images, or making data models — all these tasks will be vital as we enter this new age.
India needs to grab the bull by its horns
Examining Luxembourg’s efforts to secure its future in an AI era reveals that India has much to do. While there is work being done on some foundational models in India. Strategic partnerships must be established with players who view us as equals. For example, Luxembourg signed a deal with Mistral AI to help integrate AI into government services, research institutions, and even national defence, while ensuring complete data sovereignty by keeping all solutions hosted on-site. India must adopt a similarly bold and coordinated approach, aligning government ministries, academia, and private innovators towards not only building AI capabilities but also embedding them deeply into public infrastructure. Rather than being passive consumers of global AI, we must shape our ecosystem as one that is secure, sovereign, and globally competitive.
Creativity is more important than technical knowledge
During the opening ceremony of Nexus 2025, Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, mentioned that the most important thing our kids need to learn in school is creativity. In a future where AI is ubiquitous, we will need people who understand and push the limits of what can be achieved with it. Knowing the code or formula for something might not be as important as understanding what to do with the knowledge. Things like rote learning must fade out of the school system if we are to compete with the global audience. This means rethinking our education system from the ground up and placing greater emphasis on problem-solving, interdisciplinary thinking, and the freedom to experiment.
AI is interdisciplinary
One of the most striking aspects of Nexus 2025 was the widespread application of AI across various domains, including space technology, climate science, finance, and healthcare. Panels discussed how satellites are utilising AI for climate monitoring, how the fintech sector is integrating AI for more effective fraud detection, and how generative AI is accelerating the process of drug discovery. This underscores a key lesson: AI isn’t a standalone sector. One of the panels, in fact, pointed out that the biggest minds in AI right now are often interdisciplinary scholars as well. Attending Nexus 2025 made one thing abundantly clear: AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a present-day force that’s reshaping every sector, every job, and every country.