The Human Advantage Stronger Brains in the Age of AI 2026

Acknowledgements Pathfinder Organizations American Heart Association Brain and Mind Institute – Aga Khan University Child Mind Institute Coalition for Mental Health Investment – African Venture Philanthropy Alliance Coalition for Mental Health Investment – Clinton Global Initiative Coalition for Mental Health Investment – Kokoro Change Coalition for Mental Health Investment – Wellcome Trust Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative EIB Institute EIT Health eMental Health International Collaborative Euro–Mediterranean Economists Association European Brain Council Grand Challenges Canada Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences Latin American Brain Health Institute One Mind Rice University The Kennedy Forum UsAgainstAlzheimer’s The authors would like to acknowledge the following contributors from the World Economic Forum: Ruma Bhargava, Sam Grayling, Jitka Kolarova, Nga Leopold, Till Leopold, Jahanara RahemtullaThe authors would like to acknowledge the following contributors from McKinsey & Company and the McKinsey Health Institute: Caroline Berchuck, Marshall Berton, Michael Conway, Michael Chui, Aaron De Smet, Danielle DiStefano, Kristina Durcakova, Michael Fisher, Lars Hartenstein, Brad Herbig, Barbara Jeffrey, Alexis Krivkovich, Pooja Kumar, Anu Madgavkar, Dana Maor, Kate Midden, Michael Morley, Elizabeth Newman, Anouk Petersen, Divya Ravinder, Maithelee Sathe, Shekhar Saxena, Sven Smit, Greeshma Somashekar, Nicole Szelack, Anastasia Perez Ternent, Pooja Tatwawadi We are grateful to the very large group of individuals who have engaged through the Brain Economy Action Forum over the past year. In particular, we would like to thank the following people for their invaluable expertise and support in reviewing these insights: Yassin Alhamad, Cara Altimus, Steve Appleton, Frank Aswani, Rym Ayadi, Rebecca O. Bagley, John Bailey, Nicole Bardikoff, Stephanie Bell, Amitabh Chandra, Jules Chappell, Dan Chisholm, Josefina Cruzat, Nathaniel Counts, Stéphanie Debette, Frédéric Destrebecq, Rajinder K. Dhamija, Shiva Dustdar, Mitchell Elkind, Richard Frank, Jim Hackett, Richard Hatzfeld, William Heisel, Drew Holzapfel, Adi Horesh, William Hynes, Agustín Ibáñez, Dévora Kestel, Sarah Kline, Becky Korenek, Surya Kolluri, Sarah Lenz Lock, Franciscka Lucien, Jesús Mantas, Sean Mayberry, Zul Merali, Isaac Middelmann, Kelly O’Brien, Melani O’Leary, Lisa Mosconi, Joy Muhia, Danish Munir, Chee Ng, Giovanni Abrahão Salum, Raliza Stoyanova, Jam Suba, Charlene Sunkel, Paweł Świeboda, Anil Thapliyal, Diane Ty, George Vradenburg, Alise Wallis, Miranda Wolpert, Harry Yan Production Bianca Gay-Fulconis Designer, 1-Pact Edition Tanya Korniichuk Illustrator, 1-Pact Edition Simon Smith Editor, Astra ContentThis report is a result of the collective expertise and invaluable contributions of the distinguished members of the Brain Economy Action Forum, whose insights have been fundamental to its development. The Human Advantage: Stronger Brains in the Age of AI 27