Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson:

AI, Power, and the New Global Order with Nina Schick

Date: January 26, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into how artificial intelligence (AI) is catalyzing a new industrial revolution—one that is rapidly reshaping global power dynamics, the nature of work, and the underpinnings of prosperity and security. Host Geoff Nielson welcomes Nina Schick, a leading expert at the intersection of AI, geopolitics, and policy, to explore the scale of AI-driven disruption, the emerging battle for power among nation states and tech companies, and how individuals and organizations can adapt.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AI as the Most Consequential Moment in Human History

• Frontier of AI & AGI:
  • Nina frames our current era as possibly "the most consequential moment in human history," where non-biological general intelligence (AGI) is on the horizon after decades of theoretical speculation.
  • Quote:

    "We're entering the foothills of actually being able to create a non biological general intelligence." (01:05, Nina)

  • Accelerated computing power and the emergence of new AI scaling laws have made rapid progress possible, with competition ramping up between labs and nation states.
  • She emphasizes that even if AGI is reached, it’s only the beginning: "How much more intelligent can a non-biological system become?" (02:04, Nina)
  • Anticipates that AI’s societal, political, and scientific impact will be massive and disruptive.

2. The Tension: Excitement vs. Concern

• Duality of Risk and Opportunity:
  • Nina describes living on "both sides of that debate"—witnessing AI's darker sides first (e.g., DeepFakes, information ecosystem corruption, societal manipulation) and later realizing its immense potential for scientific breakthroughs.
    • Quote:

      "The killer app for AI might actually be scientific discovery." (07:22, Nina)

    • Cites DeepMind’s AlphaFold solving a 50-year biology problem as emblematic of AI’s promise (08:03).
  • Emphasizes the dizzying pace of change and warns of potential for widespread disruption: "Just how quickly it's happening...just how capable it's becoming." (09:56, Nina)
  • Zeroes in on the broad applicability of AI—from jobs and the economy to environmental issues and global wealth distribution (11:00).

3. AI and Global Power—The New Geopolitical Chessboard

• Technology as Power:
  • AI follows the trend in which advanced technology defines global power structures: those who own the means of intelligence production become the most prosperous and secure.
  • Concentration of Power:
    • Only a handful of tech giants have the resources to build AI infrastructure at "industrial utility" scale—primarily American firms (Google, Xai, etc.).
    • Nina highlights the immense capital expenditure involved (over $500B in 2025 in the US), far outstripping what governments or smaller players can invest (17:33, Nina).
    • Quote:

      "These companies are more powerful than nation states. These companies are the ones that are building the infrastructure that everyone's going to be dependent on." (19:55, Nina)

  • Projection of Hard Power:
    • US tech hegemony projects influence and security; for example, 80% of Europe’s compute infrastructure is controlled by US firms.
    • She notes Trump's administration leveraging American tech leadership globally as part of geopolitical strategy (20:55).

4. The End of the Old Order: NATO, China, and the Return of Hard Power

• Shifting Alliances and National Purpose:
  • The brief period of uncontested American liberal hegemony is ending, replaced by intensified competition, particularly versus China and its AI-driven mission for global leadership.
  • Quote:

    "We're entering into this period of hard power, and it'll be interesting to see whether...the Western alliance...is going to be one of the casualties of that." (26:29, Nina)

  • AI is now central to national security, with military applications rapidly evolving (e.g., autonomous systems, redefined warfare).
  • New alliances and supply chains are taking shape, especially among the US, Gulf states, and Latin America, to secure critical resources and technology.

5. Governance Systems and the Future of Democracy

• Democracy vs. Autocracy:
  • Discusses the debate: does AI threaten democracy—or is the greater risk that democracies fail to harness its benefits for societal prosperity and security?
    • Quote:

      "The biggest threat to democracy is actually if you don't rise to the occasion...if you don't use these technologies to rebuild the base of sovereignty and prosperity.” (28:32, Nina)

  • China’s top-down, mission-driven approach contrasts with the EU’s fragmented model and the US tradition of public-private partnerships (31:32).
    • Predicts most breakthroughs in AI capability will come from US firms, but China leads in focused national deployment.
  • The US model—reinvigorated public-private partnerships (analogous to Apollo/Manhattan Projects)—may best balance innovation and societal integration.

6. Business Adaptation: What Leaders Should Do NOW

• The Role of Non-Tech Organizations:
  • The tech giants are playing a game no one else can win (building the "utility" infrastructure); other sectors must instead think strategically about leveraging AI as the cost of intelligence trends toward zero.
  • Advice to Leaders:
    • Focus less on current clunky tools (chatbots, workflows), more on "the direction of where we're going."
    • Leaders must continuously assess capability gaps, vision for using AI, and workforce management.
    • Quote (re: hype):

      "AI isn't magical pixie dust. It's true. You still have to look at your organization, what's the capability gap? What's the thing you're trying to solve, and then you think about, okay, how you apply intelligence in that afterward." (39:55, Nina)

  • Managing teams will be crucial: how do you organize hierarchies and retrain employees as knowledge work inevitably undergoes disruption?

7. AI and the Workforce: Jobs, Automation, and Asset Ownership

• Transition and Challenge:
  • Jobs disruption is not yet at massive scale from AI—current layoffs owe more to economic cycles, but the paradigm will shift.
  • As intelligence becomes cheap and abundant, the relationship between labor and capital will be fundamentally changed.
  • Certain jobs (builders, engineers, technicians) are in high demand during the infrastructure build-out, while average "knowledge work" faces steep automation pressure ("AI is raising the floor").
  • Quote:

    "If you are somebody who's just been coasting ... I think you probably would be automated.” (45:11, Nina)

  • Schick stresses the need to become an "asset owner"—to invest in and share in the gains of these massively valuable new infrastructures—along with a focus on financial literacy.

8. Entrepreneurship, Disruption, and Power Distribution

• Winner Take All—Or Widespread Empowerment?
  • While infrastructure will be concentrated with a few giants, AI enables new entrepreneurial possibilities globally.
  • Schick references her personal and familial experience with the Internet’s impact in Nepal (50:00): technology, once dispersed, can radically transform societies and create new opportunities.
  • Quote:

    "You have lots of entrepreneurs, lots of young people creating their own businesses...using it as a way to access opportunity in education, which is completely unprecedented." (50:37, Nina)

  • The future likely requires more risk-takers, creatives, and entrepreneurs, driving a shift away from traditional, stable career paths.

9. Skills for the AI Era & Enduring Human Qualities

• What Will Matter Most?
  • Perspective, historical awareness, resilience in the face of change, risk tolerance, and optimism about human ingenuity.
  • Human connection and trust become even more valuable differentiators amidst increasing automation.
  • Quote:

    “It’s being able to deal with change. It’s being able to take a bit of risk, being resilient, staying optimistic and cultivating trust. Being human. Leaning into that even more than ever before.” (55:40, Nina)

Memorable Quotes with Timestamps

• On the scale of AI’s impact:

  "Is there anything in the history of human civilization ... that's more powerful than that?" (02:17, Nina)

• On scientific discovery as AI’s killer app:

  "The killer app for AI might actually be scientific discovery." (07:22, Nina)

• On infrastructure:

  "Who owns the infrastructure for the utility that everyone is going to need, that's going to be diffused through every part of the economy." (17:56, Nina)

• On the risk to democracy:

  "The biggest threat to democracy is actually if you don't rise to the occasion...if you don't use these technologies to rebuild the base of sovereignty and prosperity." (28:32, Nina)

• On public-private partnership:

  "That has always been the spirit of great American innovation in the 20th century ... the Apollo Project, the Manhattan Project. Even the history of Silicon Valley..." (32:31, Nina)

• On AI in business:

  "AI isn't magical pixie dust ... You still have to look at your organization, what's the capability gap?" (39:55, Nina)

• On asset ownership:

  "You can't just be a world where you say, I'm going to survive and support myself and my family on the fruits of my labor. Because ... that's fundamentally going to change." (46:32, Nina)

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• Introduction & Nina’s Perspective on AI (00:00–03:48)
• AI Disruption: Opportunity and Danger (03:48–11:44)
• Technical Infrastructure and Global Power (13:18–21:14)
• Geopolitics: NATO, U.S., China, and Power Realignment (21:14–28:24)
• Systems of Governance and AI’s Threat/Potential for Democracy (28:24–35:52)
• How Organizations Should Think About AI Now (35:52–41:57)
• AI, Workforce & Economic Disruption (41:57–49:01)
• Entrepreneurial Future: Distributed Opportunity vs. Concentration (49:01–52:38)
• Critical Skills for the AI Era (52:38–56:40)

Summary Takeaways

• We are at a historic inflection point, facing the emergence of non-biological intelligence that will upend every facet of life, society, and global power.
• Tech giants and nation states are locked in a massive race to build, scale, and own the AI infrastructure of the future—with profound consequences for sovereignty and prosperity.
• Organizations and individuals must adapt not just tactically (adopting tools) but strategically—rethinking leadership, workforce skills, and asset ownership in a world where intelligence is nearly free.
• The future belongs to the adaptable, the risk-takers, and those who invest in resilience, learning, and human connection.