The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, in collaboration with Accenture, unveiled a research report on AI investment entitled “Rebalancing Intelligence: How the Next Wave of AI Investment is Set to Flow South.”

The report is being launched at FII9, a global conference at which the world’s investment agenda is set, convening the world’s most influential leaders.

After years of concentration in the Global North, investors now predict a significant rebalancing of AI capital flows towards emerging markets, a major shift in investor focus.

The new data show that 87% of global investors plan to increase AI investments in the Global South within the next two years, with India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East identified as most likely beneficiaries.

The study surveyed 250 C-suite leaders from private equity firms (40%), venture capital firms (40%), and corporate venture units of large enterprises (20%) across 13 countries in the Global North. It also included 15 in-depth interviews with senior investors from leading PE, VC, and sovereign wealth funds.

Despite the Global South representing nearly half the world’s population and a quarter of global economic growth, it currently attracts only 28% of AI-related foreign direct investment, a fraction of the $548 billion invested globally over the past two years. There are just nine AI unicorns in the Global South, compared with 305 in the North.

AI dominates this year’s FII9 agenda, with over one third of panels and speakers exploring its potential. From tech and chip CEOs to sovereign funds, global investors and policymakers, FII9 is where the future of AI capital flows is discussed.

“OpenAI’s recent $1 trillion chip investment commitment shows the scale of transformation ahead,” said Richard Attias, CEO of FII Institute. “We must ensure this wave lifts all boats. Bridging the AI investment divide is an economic opportunity and a moral imperative. Innovation must be a driver of shared global prosperity.”

“We are excited to join FII in launching this insightful report, which provides a unique and timely opportunity for global business leaders to learn about the untapped potential of AI to unlock growth in the Global South,” said Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture. “AI is much more than a technology—it’s a catalyst for reinvention—and investment in talent, infrastructure and local ecosystems across these regions will help ensure that AI becomes a force for shared prosperity and shape a future where innovation knows no borders.”

The report is the first major deliverable of AI Inclusive, an FII Institute initiative designed to accelerate AI growth in emerging markets by mobilizing investment, supporting startups, and deploying adaptable governance tools.

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HP released the third annual HP Work Relationship Index (WRI), a comprehensive global study that examines how people around the world feel about their relationship with work.

This year’s results reveal that fulfillment at work has hit a historic low. Only 20% of knowledge workers report a healthy relationship with work, down 8 points from 2024. The most dramatic decline is among business leaders, underscoring a crisis of connection and confidence at the very top. Yet the study also finds that 85% of the factors influencing workplace fulfillment are within an organization’s control, underscoring a significant opportunity for businesses to lead change and rebuild stronger work relationships.

For example, only 44% of knowledge workers say their work gives them a sense of purpose, and just 39% feel they receive adequate recognition for their contributions. These are fixable problems that will be critical as businesses seek to embrace a more fulfilling future of work.

“The findings from this year’s Work Relationship Index reinforce that the way we work is changing fast,” stated Peter Oganesean, Managing Director of HP Middle East and East Africa. “As younger professionals set new expectations around flexibility, autonomy and purpose, business leaders have a clear mandate: to create environments where people feel connected, valued and empowered to succeed. Fulfillment at work isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a business imperative.”

Work Isn’t Working
The 2025 Index shows employees under pressure, with many reporting rising expectations and a sense of disconnection. More than 6 in 10 desk-based workers say their company’s expectations have increased over the past year, while nearly half feel their employer prioritizes profit over people.

At the same time, the findings highlight an opportunity: businesses can reshape the employee experience through stronger leadership, recognition, flexibility and access to the right tools. By taking action now, organizations can turn today’s challenges into a foundation for healthier and more fulfilling work relationships.

Fulfillment Drives Growth
Research confirms that fulfilled employees are not only happier, but also more likely to drive positive outcomes for their organizations. Workers in the “Healthy Zone” are three times more likely to feel connected to colleagues, achieve work-life balance and contribute to business growth.

AI as a Positive Enabler
The 2025 Index also demonstrates AI’s potential to reshape the work experience. Four in ten knowledge workers now use AI daily, and those with access to work-provided AI tools are twice as likely to report a healthy relationship with work. Yet adoption gaps remain: just 21% of knowledge workers describe themselves as proficient in AI, compared to 56% of IT decision makers.

Businesses that democratize access to AI – through tools and training – are seeing measurable gains in optimism, productivity and retention.

The Future is Generational
An increasing focus of business leaders, and of this year’s Index, is the immediate impact of young professionals. Gen Z and Millennials, now the majority of the global workforce, are reshaping work with new expectations.

• 51% of Gen Z workers report having a side hustle.
• 4 in 5 Gen Z employees would give up part of their salary for more flexibility and autonomy.
• Younger generations are leading AI adoption, demanding purpose-driven leadership, and leaving companies that fail to keep up.

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Veeam is all set to acquire Securiti AI for $1.725 billion. Securiti AI is a recognized leader in Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) that also spans privacy, governance, access, and AI trust across hybrid, multi-cloud, and SaaS platforms. Veeam and Securiti AI unify data resilience with DSPM, privacy, governance, and AI trust spanning production and secondary data. Together, they will help customers understand their full data estate, while providing security, along with recovery and rollback, to unleash the value of their data for AI.

With the acquisition of Securiti AI, Veeam eliminates the challenge of managing fragmented data across apps, clouds, SaaS, endpoints, and backups. CIOs, CISOs, and CDOs will have a unified command center to fully control and understand all their data, as well as secure it with near-zero data loss or business downtime, recover and rollback data and AI with precision, and safely unleash AI innovation. This single control plane across production and secondary data enables enterprises to uniformly command their entire data estate – combining Veeam’s trusted data resilience capabilities with Securiti AI’s leading DSPM, data privacy, and AI trust capabilities.

The combination of Veeam and Securiti AI dramatically mitigates these trade-offs with a single command center for all data.

“We’ve entered a new era for data. It’s no longer about just protecting data from cyber threats and unforeseen disasters; it’s also about identifying all your data, ensuring it’s governed and trusted to power AI transparently,” said Anand Eswaran, CEO at Veeam. “This is the single most critical factor in failed AI initiatives. By combining the market-leading strengths of Veeam and Securiti AI, we bring those capabilities together in a single solution to help customers understand, secure, recover, and rollback, and unleash their data to drive new business value.”

“Enterprise AI is simply not possible without data security. Securiti AI solves that and enables the safe use of data and AI,” said Rehan Jalil, CEO at Securiti AI. “Bringing together our unique capabilities with Veeam, the global leader in data resilience, creates a new value proposition for customers with one data command center delivering data resilience, DSPM, privacy, governance, and AI trust for your entire data estate. Veeam’s global reach and innovation, combined with our technology and intelligence, will provide customers with unmatched business resilience and security to fully unlock the benefits of AI.”

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