Samer Choucair on Why the ”Economy of Minds” Will Drive the Next Wave of Investment
**Samer Choucair on Why the "Economy of Minds" Will Drive the Next Wave of Investment**
Investment entrepreneur Samer Choucair said that while global markets currently focus their attention on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and mega tech companies, the most valuable and scarce asset is no longer technology itself, but the minds capable of inventing and developing it.
Choucair added that the scientific career of American physicist Sabrina Pasterski reflects a growing global trend, one in which institutional capital is shifting toward deep scientific research, advanced physics, and technologies that could reshape the global economy over the coming decades.
Choucair explained that real value lies not only in tracking innovations after they emerge, but in investing in the scientific environments that produce them, as these represent the core driver of future waves of economic growth.
The "Economy of Minds" Has Become an Independent Asset Class
Samer Choucair noted that competition among global economies no longer depends solely on possessing natural resources, factories, or even the largest technology companies, but is increasingly centered on the ability to produce scientists and researchers capable of achieving fundamental discoveries.
Choucair added that recent years have seen a notable rise in government and private investment directed toward theoretical physics, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and space technologies, amid growing conviction that deep scientific breakthroughs will be the next driver of global productivity, much as the internet and smartphones were in previous waves of growth.
Choucair affirmed that markets often focus on the companies benefiting from innovation, while underestimating the importance of the environment that produces this innovation, represented by universities, research centers, and exceptional minds that later turn into companies valued at billions of dollars or technologies that reshape entire economic sectors.
Investment Funds Are Expanding Their Bets on Deep Tech
Samer Choucair explained that major investment institutions, including sovereign wealth funds and venture capital funds, are now allocating a growing share of their portfolios to what is known as Deep Tech, companies that emerge from advanced scientific research before becoming commercial products.
Choucair added that these investments span quantum computing, advanced materials, energy physics, space technologies, advanced artificial intelligence, robotics, and bioengineering.
Choucair noted that although the investment cycle in these sectors takes longer compared with traditional software companies, the potential returns are greater due to high scientific barriers and the difficulty of competition.
Universities Have Become Factories for Global Companies
Samer Choucair said that the past two decades have seen a large number of influential global companies emerge from academic and research environments, after fundamental research turned into companies leading multi-billion-dollar markets.
Choucair added that universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Caltech have become a core part of the global innovation ecosystem, no longer merely educational institutions, given their role in producing new technologies and the entrepreneurs and scientists who attract massive investment from both the public and private sectors.
Choucair affirmed that the professional investor does not limit themselves to analyzing existing companies, but also monitors the institutions capable of producing the next generation of founders and scientists, since economic value often begins inside laboratories before it reaches financial markets.
Artificial Intelligence Is Reinforcing the Importance of Basic Science
Samer Choucair noted that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has not diminished the importance of basic science, but has increased the need for it, explaining that progress in chips, quantum computing, data centers, and communication systems increasingly depends on physics, mathematics, and advanced engineering, not software alone.
Choucair added that this reality explains why governments and major global companies continue to pour massive investment into basic research, even though its commercial results may not appear immediately.
Saudi Vision 2030 Supports the Knowledge Economy
Samer Choucair explained that this global direction aligns with Saudi Vision 2030's goals, which focus on building a knowledge- and innovation-based economy, increasing R&D spending, attracting global talent, and developing artificial intelligence and advanced technology ecosystems.
Choucair added that expanding research universities, innovation centers, and investment in deep technologies could help strengthen the Kingdom's and the Gulf's ability to produce knowledge locally rather than relying solely on imported technology.
Choucair affirmed that investing in highly skilled human capital is among the most strategic long-term investments, since economies that produce knowledge have a greater ability to establish global companies, attract foreign investment, and achieve sustainable economic growth.
A Forward-Looking Vision for the Knowledge Economy
Samer Choucair concluded his remarks by affirming that economic history shows many of the greatest industrial transformations began with scientific research that seemed, at the time, far removed from commercial application.
Choucair added that in the coming years, institutional investors will not limit themselves to tracking companies developing future technologies, but will pay growing attention to the universities and scientific environments producing the minds capable of inventing those technologies.
Samer Choucair concluded by affirming that the ability to discover and support scientific talent could become one of the most important sources of competitive advantage in the knowledge economy, and that investing in minds will remain one of the most powerful tools for building sustainable value and attracting long-term capital.