Technology, AI & the Future of Innovation
Armand: As a founder and leader, how do you stay energized and aligned with your vision when tackling complex global challenges? Priya: I would give a lot of credit to the EarthID team. When you are working on complex, global challenges, you need people who challenge your thinking, bring different perspectives, and stay committed to the vision. That creates both energy and accountability, and keeps you moving forward even when things are uncertain. I have also learned the importance of stepping back. Taking time to reflect helps maintain perspective, cut through noise, and stay aligned with the bigger picture rather than reacting to short-term pressures. For me, that can mean dedicated thinking time away from screens or conversations with other founders, which helps me reconnect with the “why” behind the work. Armand: For my final question through the lens of Davos Club, if you were speaking to world leaders and innovators gathered on the global stage, what is the single most important shift you believe we must make together to unlock inclusive and trustworthy digital futures for everyone? Priya: The most important shift is moving from systems built on data accumulation to systems built on trusted verification. Today, much of our digital infrastructure is built on collecting and storing personal data at scale. That model concentrates risk, creates systemic vulnerabilities, and often excludes those who cannot easily participate. This becomes even more critical in an AI-driven world, where synthetic identities and automated decisions can scale faster than our ability to verify what is real. We need to redesign this foundation. Trust should be established through verifiable signals, not by replicating and storing sensitive data across systems. This is not just a technical change. It requires coordination across policy, technology, and industry to prioritise privacy, interoperability, and accessibility from the outset. If we make that shift, we move from fragile systems of trust to resilient ones, and build digital systems that are more secure, more inclusive, and fundamentally more trustworthy at a global scale.
and improve user experience, but trust decisions themselves should remain deterministic, auditable, and explainable. So it is not about slowing innovation down. It is about directing it responsibly. If you build with the right principles from the start, you can innovate without creating new risks. Armand: You have been recognized with multiple awards and seen your work influence digital ecosystems, what drives your commitment to inclusion and empowerment beyond just the technology itself? Priya: For me, inclusion and empowerment are not outcomes of technology, they are choices we make when we design it. I have seen, both professionally and personally, how access to services can depend on how well someone fits into existing systems. When those systems are not designed with everyone in mind, they unintentionally exclude people who need them the most. It reinforced for me how deeply these systems affect real lives. It is not just about security or efficiency, it is about financial stability, dignity, and trust. That is what drives me. Technology should reduce barriers, not create new ones. It should give people more control, not take it away. Beyond the technology itself, it is about building systems that are fair, accessible, and designed for real- world diversity, so that more people can participate confidently in the digital economy. Armand: Looking at the broader landscape today, where do you see opportunities for real progress in digital trust and data ownership in the next five years? Priya: The next five years will be defined by a shift from systems that store and control data to systems that verify and respect it. We are already seeing the foundations of this shift. Regulatory frameworks like digital identity wallets and standards such as verifiable credentials are pushing the industry toward models where individuals can hold and share their own data securely. At the same time, the rise of AI-driven fraud is exposing just how fragile many existing identity systems are. The real opportunity lies in closing that gap. First, there is a clear move toward user-controlled identity and data ownership. Models like self- sovereign identity and digital wallets allow individuals to decide what they share, rather than organisations holding everything by default. Second, we will see privacy-preserving verification become the norm. Technologies that allow verification without exposing underlying data, whether through cryptography or new architectures, will move from niche to expectation. Privacy is no longer just a compliance requirement, it is becoming a competitive differentiator. Third, there is a growing need for trust in an AI-driven world. As AI agents and synthetic identities increase, identity will not just be about people, but about proving the authenticity of actions and interactions across systems. At EarthID, we see these trends converging into a single direction: verification without data exposure, and trust without centralised control. The next phase of digital trust will not be about adding more layers of security. It will be about fundamentally redesigning how trust is established, so that individuals have control, organisations reduce risk, and access becomes more inclusive by design.
PRIYA GULIANI CEO, EarthID
https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyaguliani/
DAVOS CLUB 17
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