Every leader started somewhere. At NUS, that start can come as early as age 15. Prof Chai Kah Hin of NUS SCALE and Prof Chia Tek Yew of NUS AIDF sit down together to show how a student’s first spark of interest can grow into a career in digital finance. The NUS Youth Programmes are where that spark begins. The Asian Institute of Digital Finance (AIDF) is where it turns into deep expertise and real-world impact. Find out how the two programmes connect, and why education can’t wait, especially as AI changes how money works.

Talent rewiring is redrawing the map itself, institutions now follow people first, capital and headquarters second. Financial institutions increasingly decide where to build based on where the talent already is, not just where capital or headquarters sit. This discussion looks at how that dynamic is redrawing where financial institutions locate technology and operations, and what it means for markets competing to become talent hubs rather than just financial centres. The key question it looks to answer: is the future of finance shaped more by where the talent is than by where the capital is?

Universities are some of the most productive IP engines in the world. Researchers and students build new technology, file patents and often ship working prototypes. Then too much of it stalls. The people who invent are rarely the people who raise money, price a licence or find a first customer. Tech transfer offices work to academic timelines while capital works to market ones, so good IP sits on the shelf.

This panel asks two questions. First, what should universities change so their IP becomes investable: spin-out terms, founder support, equity and licensing models, and incentives for faculty? Second, should investors stop waiting for deals to show up and go into campuses to find them? We'll look at what each side gets wrong about the other, and what a working lab-to-market pipeline looks like.