The digital landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, constantly reshaping industries, economies, and daily life. For the November 2024 event, Platform Leaders again brought together a group of visionaries, innovators, and policy experts to discuss the evolution and transformation of the digital economy. With a focus on key digital trends for 2025, AI infrastructure, and the intersection of healthcare and digital platforms, this event provided critical insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. As AI continues to revolutionise industries and redefine possibilities, there are certainly even greater changes on the horizon.
Setting the stage: Key digital trends for 2025
Benoit Reillier, CEO of Launchworks & Co and co-chair of Platform Leaders, opened the event with a keynote address spotlighting the major digital trends that are poised to define the coming year.
Reflecting first on the transformative changes of the past year, Benoit highlighted the growing importance of generative AI, B2B platforms, and circular economy initiatives. As one example of the rapid rise of AI over the past year, he cited NVIDIA, now one of the world’s most valuable companies, fuelled by its AI chip technology.
Looking ahead, Benoit identified several key trends shaping the platform economy, including ecosystem competition, digital twins, ultra-personalisation, and holistic sustainability. In particular, he noted how AI is already becoming established as a central driver of change across domains. From smarter personal assistants to highly tailored user experiences, further integration of AI promises to redefine how platforms interact with their ecosystems and users.
With all this in mind, Benoit also announced the launch of an exciting new initiative for 2025: Collective Intelligence for AI, designed to unite SMEs, corporates, and policymakers in developing the best possible sustainable AI capabilities to enhance decision making. By fostering collaboration and sharing best practices, the initiative aims to ensure AI is implemented responsibly and inclusively. “AI is now part of every strategic conversation we have [with Launchworks’ clients],” Benoit said. “This initiative will help organisations harness AI in ways that are ethical and impactful.”
Building the AI infrastructure for success
AI is no longer just a tool for experimentation – it has become a cornerstone of business innovation, driving transformation across industries. To discuss the complex frameworks needed to embed AI into workflows effectively, Platform Leaders brought together a panel of experts: speakers Jakob Mökander, Director of Science & Technology Policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), and Robert Smith, Director of Technology AI and Data Science at Digital Catapult, along with moderator Jennifer Schenker, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Innovator.
Their conversation notably emphasised the concept of AI as a “chain” with a highly interdependent technological framework, rather than a tech “stack” of the kind that have become familiar in modern firms. This chain spans foundational elements like data storage and processing as well as innovative machine learning operations (MLOps) tools that refine and retrain AI models. Robert highlighted how major cloud providers like Microsoft and Amazon dominate much of the infrastructure space, although gaps in areas like MLOps leave room for innovation and competition.
Both panellists underscored the evolving interplay between private and public sectors in building AI infrastructure. According to Jakob, governments are grappling with regulatory fragmentation and geopolitical challenges, balancing digital sovereignty with the efficiencies offered by cross-border collaborations. The current regulatory landscape, he said, is akin to designing laws for “vehicles” without distinguishing between cars, bicycles, and spaceships, and he called for more nuanced frameworks that are individually tailored to AI’s diverse applications. He also observed how concentrated investments in regions like the US and China are reshaping global AI capabilities and leading to disparities in global compute power.
As organisations navigate this new terrain, the need for targeted approaches to AI adoption was a recurring theme, and both Robert and Jakob stressed the importance of defining workflows that balance human creativity and machine efficiency.
Regulating in an exponential age
The surge of digital regulation in recent years reflects a global shift towards more active intervention in digital markets, as governments and competition authorities grapple with the influence of technology giants.
Verity Egerton-Doyle, Antitrust and Foreign Investment Partner at Linklaters, described this phase as an “age of remorse” for regulators whose approach has been markedly less interventionary in recent decades. “We’re on the edge of a new era of regulation,” she remarked. Newly inked instruments like the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act aim to mitigate the potential risks of concentrated market power, while also providing clearer frameworks for fair competition.
Panellist Matthew Braovac, Director of the Digital Market Unit at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), emphasised the flexible approach that the DMCC Act takes, which is designed for tailored interventions across various digital sectors. In contrast, the DMA has codified thresholds for intervention, which has the advantage of predictability but may not be as adaptable in responding to fast-evolving technologies like generative AI. Matthew described this diverse regulatory landscape as a “natural experiment,” with the UK, EU, and US pursuing distinct strategies to address similar challenges. The CMA has taken a proactive stance, supported by an expanded data unit to stay abreast of technological developments as they launch.
For Oliver Bethell, Google’s Head of Competition, Regulatory Engagement & Advisory, the intersection of privacy, copyright, and competition laws presents unique challenges for compliance. However, he suggested that integrating regulatory requirements into the product development process could foster innovation while meeting compliance requirements. Oliver also highlighted the heightened competition in search markets as platforms like ChatGPT disrupt traditional paradigms, adding: “This competitive pressure is fantastic for innovation, but regulation must strike a balance to avoid stifling progress.”
Solving the healthcare crisis with digital platforms and AI
Aging populations and strained healthcare resources demand creative solutions, and digital platforms are playing a key role in answering the challenge.
Moderated by Laure Claire Reillier of Launchworks & Co., Platform Leaders welcomed a panel of healthcare innovators: Ruth Cousens, Co-Founder and CEO of THIS Labs, Dr. Charles Armitage, Co-Founder and CEO of Florence, and Dr. Mathilde Konczynski, Chief Medical Officer at MeditSimple.
The potential of digital platforms and AI to address critical challenges in healthcare was a key topic, touching on everything from workforce shortages to patient engagement. For example, MeditSimple uses AI to streamline patient pathways by guiding users from symptom entry to appropriate next steps. According to Mathilde, this reduces resource waste while empowering patients to make more informed decisions. Similarly, Ruth explained THIS Labs’ efforts to scale insights from healthcare professionals and patients, helping clients like NHS England design more effective healthcare tools and pathways.
Around the world, demographic trends and resource constraints are taking a toll on healthcare systems. Charles emphasised the workforce crisis, noting how platforms like Florence are building flexible, efficient staffing solutions. Florence uses digital tools to match supply and demand for healthcare workers, ensuring that critical roles are filled promptly while maintaining high standards of trust and accountability. However, there’s a balance that platforms have to strike between innovation and the nuanced realities of healthcare delivery, and thoughtfully integrating technology and human-centric approaches is key to success.
The conversation also touched on the ethical considerations of AI, including the importance of transparent algorithms and patient trust. MeditSimple has proactively established an ethics committee to ensure responsible AI use, while Ruth advocated for patient and provider input into healthcare automation. For his part, Charles drew parallels between AI adoption in healthcare and self-driving cars, suggesting that while AI can significantly improve safety and efficiency, clear communication and demonstrable outcomes will be key.
The Platform Leaders Academic Prize: Celebrating academic research with practical business insights
This Platform Leaders event closed by awarding the inaugural Platform Leaders Academic Prize, which recognises groundbreaking research with significant business implications.
The award was presented to Joe Ploog, Assistant Professor at IE Business School, and Joost Rietveld, Associate Professor at UCL Business School, for their insightful paper Rolling the Dice: Resolving Demand Uncertainty in Markets with Partial Network Effects, published in the Academy of Management Journal. Their research sheds light on how strategic decisions about network effects shape product success.
The prize-winning paper explores the concept of “partial network effects,” where network value is not an inherent trait but a deliberate design choice. Through a detailed analysis of nearly 20,000 board games, their study illustrates the risks and rewards of embedding network effects into products. Unlike standalone products that appeal to individual users, network products require a critical mass of participants to generate value. This makes their success a high-stakes gamble, particularly in competitive markets where demand uncertainty looms large.
The researchers presented their findings during the event, accompanied by a specially commissioned illustrated video produced by Launchworks & Co. As Joe and Joost uncovered in their research, demand uncertainty for network products is influenced by factors like product novelty, early adopters, and market competition. While innovative designs attract attention, they also heighten risk, especially for products requiring rapid adoption. Similarly, crowdfunding campaigns can build early buzz but may not sustain enough momentum for network-dependent products. These insights offer businesses a strategic framework for assessing when and how to incorporate network effects.
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