In November, Fast Company collaborated with Johns Hopkins to host the inaugural World Changing Ideas Summit in Washington, DC, bringing together leaders from business and academia to discuss innovations defining our future. Leaders in space exploration, healthcare, and artificial intelligence shared their insights on what key challenges and breakthroughs to expect in 2026.
Akhila Kosaraju, CEO of Pharebio, highlights a pressing race against antibiotic resistance. Using cutting-edge AI, her company aims to develop 15 novel antibiotics by 2030 to outmaneuver bacteria that rapidly develop resistance. Kosaraju stresses the urgency of accelerating drug development timelines to deliver effective treatments sooner.
Saleem Miyan, CEO of Max Space, emphasizes the critical need for continued American presence in space following the planned 2030 retirement of the International Space Station. His firm is working to innovate and maintain U.S. leadership through new space stations, ensuring strength in exploration and security.
Molly Mulligan, COO of SpaceMD, shares the exciting potential to advance drug development by leveraging microgravity to grow antibody crystals. Inspired by previous successes on the International Space Station, the company aims to bring new medicines from space research to market.
Ben Wolf, Chief Medical Officer at Isomorphic Labs (a Google DeepMind spinout), focuses on harnessing AI to tackle complex diseases such as cancer through precision medicine—customizing treatments for individual patients. With promising AI technology like AlphaFold, human trials are approaching.
Together, these leaders highlight 2026 as a year of urgent innovation and collaboration across sectors to address global health, space exploration, and AI-driven medical breakthroughs.
