When a thinker like Nassim Nicholas Taleb steps into the conversation, the narrative suddenly gets sharper, clearer. A little more uncomfortable sometimes, but in the best possible way.
That’s exactly how we’ve imagined QED 2026: a perspective that doesn’t just interpret uncertainty, but reframes it.
Taleb, the global thinker behind the bestsellers The Black Swan, Antifragile, and some of the most influential ideas in modern risk analysis, is joining us in Zadar this May as the central voice in our exploration of the theme Collective.
Antifragility in the Age of AI Noise
These days AI produces ideas faster than humans can absorb and evaluate them. Taleb has a razor-sharp take on that dynamic: abundance, not scarcity, is becoming our toughest problem. When content multiplies at exponential speed, the best ideas can drown before anyone notices them (the noise strangles the signals).
How to approach to this problem?
Taleb’s answer – and the backbone of his QED keynote speaker – is surprisingly simple:
build systems that get stronger after Black Swans, that evolve after shocks, and rely on collective intelligence to separate wisdom from noise.
In other words: chaos isn’t the enemy, weak structures are.
That’s where our theme Collective comes into full focus. Across industries, borders, and domains, the ability to think, decide, and act collectively determines whether organizations merely survive volatility or transform it into its long-term strength.
At QED, Taleb’s perspective will frame conversations on:
- how collective intelligence filters value out of informational chaos
- why antifragile systems outperform “safe” systems in unpredictable conditions
- the relationship between human judgment and AI-generated ideas
- how Europe can build cohesion in a moment defined by fragmentation and rapid change
Surrounding his keynote, this year’s program will explore the broader landscape of BizTech resilience: how to prepare for the next unavoidable hype cycle, how to transform legacy data into AI-ready assets, and how quantum-era security will reshape organizational strategy.
Across disciplines, the lens remains the same – what we can achieve together that we cannot achieve alone.
QED has always been a space for honest conversation, unconventional thinking, and the kind of dialogue that doesn’t fit neatly into slides. With Taleb joining us, 2026 promises to push those conversations even further.
QED 2026 will be a chance to look at uncertainty not as a threat, but as raw material: something that can be shaped, strengthened, and even leveraged when we approach it collectively.
