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Shelli Brunswick is CEO & Founder of SB Global LLC and an international keynote speaker on tech used for the betterment of humanity.

getty​Leaders will shape the next era of innovation by creating opportunities for more people and organizations to contribute.

Artificial intelligence (AI), satellite services and digital infrastructure are expanding what organizations can accomplish. Turning that potential into lasting progress requires a broader strategic lens: understanding the systems that sustain innovation, developing the people who can put it to work and creating partnerships that move from ambition to execution.

Space makes these leadership challenges tangible. Every mission operates within an environment shaped by nations, institutions and companies. Scientific discovery depends on expertise and resources distributed across borders. Today’s decisions shape tomorrow’s opportunities.

These relationships came into focus when I convened The Space Mindset: Navigating Space Policy, Diplomacy and Global Leadership during the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly. Bringing together perspectives from diplomacy, governance, research and innovation revealed a leadership opportunity extending well beyond space.

The next frontier of growth lies in connecting technological ambition with resilient systems, human expertise and effective cooperation.

Make Shared Resilience A Foundation For GrowthEvery growth strategy rests on systems the organization does not fully control. Communications networks, cloud platforms, energy supplies and external data connect individual businesses to a wider environment.

Space makes this relationship visible. A satellite operator can achieve its mission objectives while contributing to congestion that complicates future operations for everyone. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) 2026 Space Environment Report describes growing collision risks as constellations expand and too many satellites remain in congested orbits after their operational lives end. Protecting shared systems preserves the capacity to innovate and grow.

Aarti Holla-Maini, director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, linked the reliability of space services to economic resilience. Former Ecuadorian President Rosalía Arteaga brought a generational perspective, asking leaders to consider people who cannot yet participate in today’s decisions.

Together, those perspectives suggest a more ambitious role for technology leadership: building systems that remain useful as dependence on them grows. For executives, this means evaluating expansion through two lenses: What value will the initiative create? What must remain reliable for that value to endure?

As a business leader, you should map out the dependencies supporting your most important customer outcomes. Examine reliance on providers, recovery options and the consequences of failure across connected services. Include maintenance, interoperability and plans for replacing or phasing out systems and services in investment decisions. Then identify where coordinated action can strengthen the environment: shared security practices, clearer interfaces or better communication among providers.

Resilience can become a source of confidence for customers and partners. Organizations that strengthen the surrounding systems create firmer foundations for their own growth.

Build Human Capability Alongside TechnologyThe opportunity created by a technology expands when people can adapt it to their circumstances, solve problems with it and contribute improvements.

Access to a platform creates a starting point. Economic value develops through relevant applications, informed judgment and the ability to integrate new tools into real work.

Holla-Maini highlighted the difficulty of attracting investment in human capital compared with visible infrastructure. Bahrain Space Agency chief executive officer Mohamed Al-Aseeri described a complementary approach: combining education, specialized training and mission experience to build capabilities that can support future work.

Dr. Masami Onoda of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency explored international collaboration and capacity building through relationships that connect agencies, researchers and private-sector participants.

These examples show that expertise develops when people apply their knowledge to real problems and work alongside experienced practitioners.

The World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025 reinforces that wider view. It identifies connectivity, compute, context and competency as foundations for effective AI ecosystems, connecting infrastructure and computing power with relevant data and skills.

Leaders should prepare people to use technology effectively as part of every investment. They should budget for training and guided practice so they can adapt new tools to local needs, identify errors and question results. Extend that investment to customers, suppliers, and partners. Their expertise may reveal applications and market needs your organization would otherwise miss. Measure whether people can solve relevant problems, improve processes and respond effectively as conditions change. These outcomes demonstrate readiness more clearly than course completion.

Design Cooperation As A Strategic AdvantageSome of the most valuable opportunities emerge where different capabilities meet. A research institution may understand a scientific challenge. A business may know how to commercialize a solution. A government may create the conditions for adoption. Each contributes something the others need.

Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl, a special advisor for political affairs at the ESA, described regional cooperation that enables countries to pool resources and pursue programs beyond their individual reach. Michal Brichta, director of the Innovation Department at Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy, emphasized understanding existing strengths and finding a distinctive contribution within the international landscape.

Leaders need to choose partners whose strengths complement your own and define the outcome you will pursue together. Cooperation requires clear working agreements. Partners need to know who makes which decisions, what information is shared and how to resolve competing priorities. They also need enough trust to discuss difficult issues openly as circumstances change. The Artemis Accords illustrate this approach through shared principles for civil space exploration, including transparency, interoperability and scientific data sharing.

For AI partnerships, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Risk Management Framework provides a relevant foundation by incorporating trustworthiness considerations into AI design, development, use and evaluation.

Before expanding the partnership, test those agreements against a realistic challenge, such as a service disruption or conflicting customer needs. Can partners share information, resolve disagreements and respond together? Effective cooperation increases what participants can accomplish together.

The strategic question for technology leaders is whether each investment strengthens the collective ability to innovate. Consider whose expertise it develops, which shared systems it strengthens and what new possibilities it opens through cooperation. These choices shape a shared future. When leaders build the conditions for others to succeed, they expand the possibilities for their organizations and for the generations of innovators who will follow.

The space mindset challenges us to see beyond current limits, act with purpose and build opportunities that others can carry forward.

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