As AI, agentic systems and other frontier technologies evolve, governments and companies are making high-stakes decisions before the impacts are fully understood and before clear regulatory frameworks exist. Companies face fragmented and fast-changing requirements. Governments must offer enough predictability and protection without locking in rules that quickly become outdated.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Regulatory Innovation Platform (GRIP) convened an invitation-only, in-person roundtable of senior leaders from government, industry and other sectors to examine how both sides can make better decisions under uncertainty. The session was held under the Chatham House Rule and facilitated by Kelly Ommundsen, Head of Digital Inclusion and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum. Its insights will directly inform the GRIP Regulatory Playbook.

Opening:

the Regulatory Traffic Light. On arrival, participants placed a sticker on a board to show how much regulatory clarity their organisation currently has to develop, deploy or invest in frontier technologies responsibly. The options were green (sufficient clarity), amber (uncertainty adding cost, delay or risk) and red (uncertainty preventing important decisions or scaling). On a second board, they used sticky notes to say what would move their answer one step closer to green. The facilitator drew on these boards to frame the discussion.

Opening panel.

Short remarks from government and industry speakers looked at how principles for AI and frontier technology governance can become practical approaches that stay adaptive as technology evolves, even as regulation becomes more fragmented across borders. The speakers were Ruqayya Alblooshi (Executive Secretary, United Arab Emirates Government) and Laurent Monjole (Vice President for Government Affairs, EMEA, Salesforce). The discussion covered:

How governments are adapting their regulatory approach as AI systems grow more capable and autonomous;
What has been learned in moving from ambition and principles to real-world deployment in government;
Where the biggest gaps lie between how policymakers approach AI regulation and what companies need in practice;
Where regulatory uncertainty creates the greatest governance and implementation challenges for companies operating across markets.

Facilitated community discussion.

The conversation was organised around three themes, each opened by “firestarter” speakers:

The cost of regulatory uncertainty.

Aaron Schumm (CEO and Chairman, Vestwell) and Zarrar Sehgal (Chairman, Pathfinder Group, Pakistan) opened. Participants looked at where uncertainty costs companies most (delayed investment, fragmented compliance or lost competitive advantage) and what would reduce that cost.

Scaling AI responsibly across industries.

Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite (CEO, HealthAI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health) and Barbara Badoino (Head of Corporate Ethics, Risk and Compliance, Novartis) opened.

Participants considered where governance challenges are emerging as organisations in every sector deploy more capable and autonomous systems. They also discussed what would help businesses manage those risks while continuing to innovate and scale.

Building effective public-private collaboration.

Ilaria Chan (Chairperson, Tech for Good Institute, Singapore) opened. Participants discussed what effective collaboration looks like in practice, moving beyond one-off consultations towards continuous ways to share evidence, test approaches and flag emerging challenges.

The discussion focused on practical actions for regulators, opportunities for international cooperation and recommendations for the GRIP Regulatory Playbook.

Closing and next steps.

The facilitator summarised the key insights and highlighted the recommendations to be incorporated into the GRIP Regulatory Playbook. She also identified opportunities for continued engagement through the GRIP community, including peer learning and regulatory cooperation.

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