My Summer Reads (2025)

Where Tech, Power and the World Collide

Aug 03, 2025

As AI hype accelerates and geopolitics grows more entangled with technology, I believe that understanding who controls what — and why — becomes essential.

This summer, here’s what I’m reading, re-reading, and recommending.

A mix of deep books, sharp essays, and brilliant voices that have informed my own work at 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗞 — where we explore the power structures behind innovation, AI, and global infrastructure.

𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀

𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘞𝘢𝘳 by Chris Miller - A geopolitical page-turner on the chip industry’s past, present, and centrality in the next great power rivalry.
𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 by Patrick McGee - A sharp dissection of Apple’s dependency on China — and what it reveals about modern globalization.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐 by Karen Hao - The best long-read on AI geopolitics you’ll find — soft power, cloud infrastructure, and techno-hegemony.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 by Giuliano da Empoli - A political technothriller on how spin doctors and social media strategists hacked modern democracies.
𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 by Asma MHALLA - A sharp, urgent diagnosis of how digital power reshapes democratic life — from infrastructures to ideologies.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘪 by Eva Dou - How Huawei became a global telecom giant — and why it drew fire from the West.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 by Robert D. Kaplan - A dark mirror of the post-industrial West — where economic decline feeds geopolitical drift.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 by Shoshana Zuboff - The definitive critique of how tech firms monetize behavior at scale — and reshape society.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘴 by John Gribbin - Quantum physics meets next-gen computing. Accessible, mind-bending, and timely.
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳 by Jason Silver - A more personal, perspective-shifting read on growth and mental clarity — a useful contrast to the heavy geopolitics above.
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𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺)

If you’re looking to sharpen your feed this summer, here’s a curated list of voices I follow closely. From AI policy and geopolitics to infrastructure and digital sovereignty: these thinkers help me cut through noise and see the bigger picture. Happy reading!

𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 & 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘬

Elisabeth Braw — on critical infrastructure and national security

Ophélie Coelho — the political economy of code and digital dependences

Anne Leslie — IBM leader on cloud governance and European digital sovereignty

Marine Champon — risk, crisis, and geopolitical strategy. Watch my webinars with Marine about Technopolitics, where power meets tech here:

𝘈𝘐, 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 & 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺

Luiza Jarovsky, PhD — on AI policy, regulation, and digital rights

Stephen Klein — decoding “Curious AI” with sharp, system-level analysis

Linas Beliūnas — AI trends with a pragmatic, global lens

Pascal BORNET — focused on Agentic Intelligence and automation

Andreas Horn — IBM technologist connecting AI, infrastructure, and enterprise leadership

Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D. — pioneer in Emotion AI and advocate for human-centered tech

Alison McCauley — bridging behavioral science, business, and “thinking with AI”

Natalie Monbiot — expert on virtual humans and synthetic media.

Dr. Ayesha Khanna — founder, advisor, and speaker on AI innovation and smart cities

Sol Rashidi, MBA — Chief AI Officer with a sharp focus on enterprise-scale AI transformation

Stuart Winter-Tear — founder of Dataception, offering deep insights into data-centric AI and strategic risk

Marlene Vicaire — expert voice on digital transformation and geopolitical foresight

Ned Lowe - on engineering teams and building products.

𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 & 𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

Peter Csathy - decoding the business of media, IP, and AI-generated content

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Podcasts That Challenge and Inform

I started listening to podcasts only recently, while training for my very long runs (4h+ sessions)... preparing my last ultra-trail.

I enjoyed learning & running: some of the sharpest ideas don’t come from books but from the voices in your ears...

These podcasts shape how I think about technology, geopolitics, and systems change.

If you want to go beyond the headlines and explore the 𝘸𝘩𝘺 behind the 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, here is where you can start...

𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 — Ryan Faulkner

Long-form conversations connecting geopolitics, economics, and power dynamics across continents.

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 — Azeem Azhar

One of the most consistently insightful podcasts on systems change, technological disruption, and future governance.

𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 — Bernard Leong

Your front-row seat to Southeast Asia’s tech evolution — infrastructure, strategy, and emerging markets decoded.

𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 — Margot Bletterie

A smart, contrarian lens on AI, society, and policy — grounded in European nuance with Middle Eastern flavours; no hype and no shortcuts.

𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 (new) — Arno Pons

A European deep-dive on digital sovereignty, innovation policy, and the future of democratic tech governance.

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 — Timothy "Tim" Hughes

Practical, insightful conversations about sales, influence, and leadership in an AI-transformed business world. Consider listening to my interview with Tim here:

𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗦𝗘 — Elliott Danker

Timely and business-savvy conversations from across Asia’s tech and policy landscape. Direct, grounded, and smart. Consider listening to my interview with Elliott here: