Nina Schick is a globally recognised AI advisor who currently leads thinking on “Industrial Intelligence”—the idea that AI is reshaping not just software, but the physical and geopolitical foundations of our world. An advisor to world leaders including NATO’s Secretary General and President Joe Biden, Schick has shaped EU policy for nearly a decade, and […]
Nina Schick is a globally recognised AI advisor who currently leads thinking on “Industrial Intelligence”—the idea that AI is reshaping not just software, but the physical and geopolitical foundations of our world.
An advisor to world leaders including NATO’s Secretary General and President Joe Biden, Schick has shaped EU policy for nearly a decade, and now counsels leading AI firms such as Synthesia and data analytics & BI platform vendor Qlik.
At Qlik Connect 2025 early this year TI spoke with Schick, who offered insights into how AI is transforming not only the business landscape but also the broader geopolitical and scientific arenas.
Qlik’s AI Council was established to provide what the AI guru describes as a “3D situational awareness” of the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem.
Comprised of experts across various disciplines—geopolitics, ethics, policy, national security and scientific research—the council serves as a strategic think tank to help organisations anticipate and adapt to the accelerating pace of AI innovation.
“We were brought together as a group with very broad and applied expertise in AI,” Schick explains.
“My role is to bring the geopolitical and macroeconomic perspective, because what’s happening with AI isn’t just about business transformation. It’s about the redistribution of global power.”
Infrastructure: the race is on
According to Schick, the world is now in a full-scale race to build the infrastructure needed for AI at scale, highlighting how exponential advances in AI rely on more than just algorithms.
“You need the energy, the data centers, the network connectivity, the capital expenditure; and most of all you need the talent,” she said. This infrastructure arms race, particularly between the US and China, is already reshaping global markets and investment strategies.
Will Nvidia’s infrastructure push create sovereign AI for Europe?
Schick is also a strong believer in the non-linear progression of AI capabilities. According to her, many enterprises are underestimating just how quickly we’re moving from GenAI to agentic AI and beyond.
“I’m really bullish on the fact that AI’s capabilities are progressing on a non-linear basis, and they’re accelerating exponentially,” she said. “Those who place the right bets now will have a compounding advantage as machine intelligence becomes more capable.”
Nina Schick: “We need to fight AI with AI”
But with opportunity comes risk. Schick was quick to point out that while much of the global discourse on AI risk has focused on hypothetical extinction-level scenarios, the more immediate dangers are far more grounded and human-led.
“AI can be weaponized,” she said. “And if you’re a bad actor, this technology can supercharge your ability to do harm. That’s why we need AI to defend against AI.”
She noted how early examples of misuse, such as deepfake pornography, revealed the darker side of GenAI, even before the technology went mainstream. The AI expert wrote a book this subject back in 2020: Deepfakes and the Infocalypse.
Misuses like this, she says, underscore the importance of building trust into AI systems as they become more autonomous and integrated into real-world decision-making.
Trust, according to Schick, must be earned through transparency and governance. “We want to see where the data came from, how the AI made the decision, and be able to verify it,” she said. “That’s not just important for business. It’s going to be essential for regulation and compliance.”
A glimpse into the future
Looking ahead, Schick also shares optimistic about AI’s potential – in healthcare, for instance, where its ability to personalise diagnostics and accelerate drug development could redefine modern medicine.
With AI already outperforming clinicians in detecting certain cancers, she adds that we may be approaching a time when treatments are tailored to individuals in ways that weren’t previously possible – a development that AstraZeneca’s chief digital officer, Cindy Hoots, highlighted recently during London Tech Week.
“The human body is infinitely complex,” she says. “Even what we’ve achieved with modern medicine is still a blunt-force tool. But with AI, we’re getting closer to personalised vaccines and even cures to diseases within our lifetime.”
Ultimately, Schick believes that AI is a catalyst reshaping how we understand intelligence, strategy and human potential.
As the intelligence revolution unfolds, organisations that embrace a strategic, multidisciplinary view will be the ones that lead—not just in business, but in building the future, she says.
