What should an intelligent age make possible for people?. We build machines that can think. What should they think about?. What ritual is the modern world missing?. The world is getting smarter. Are we?. What should a machine never decide?. Does progress know where it is going?. What does it mean to flourish, not just function?. What will your grandchildren refuse to sell?

Over three days, Bhutan Innovation Festival brings a select community of the world's leading minds together to explore a future that protects what makes life worth living.

The world has never had more wealth, technology or possibility, yet somehow it can still feel like less. Human Abundance asks what it would take to build a future rich in human possibility.

Our North Star

Welcome to Bhutan Innovation Festival

Define new ways of building the future at BIF-27.

MindfulSocieties

What should guide a society when the future gets harder to predict?

At BIF-27, an invited group of leaders come together in Bhutan to examine how wellbeing can move societies forward without losing what makes them human.

IntelligentEconomies

Who gets to benefit from the next era of growth?

BIF-27 brings together a circle of forerunners shaping capital, technology and enterprise to consider how new systems can expand human capability and allow more people to share in progress.

RegenerativeSystems

What if progress restored more than it took?

In the world's first carbon-negative country, a gathering of exceptional minds come together to rethink the systems on which future growth depends.

In a world where everyone trains models, who trains judgement?

Read the BIF-27 Prospectus

A continuation of our first edition, whose 2024 faculty drew over 100 speakers, including four Nobel Laureates.

Our 2027 Speakers

Faculty: Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate · Economist; Evan Spiegel, Founder, Snap Inc.; Bjarke Ingels, Architect · BIG; Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Peace Laureate · Fmr. President of Colombia; Matthieu Ricard, Monk & Author; Antony Gormley, Artist; Konstantin Novoselov, Nobel Laureate · Physics; Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate · Medicine; Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School; Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan; Karma Tshiteem, GMC Core Working Group; Carissa Nimah, Chief Marketing Officer · Brand Bhutan; Thinley Choden, Social Entrepreneur; Tshewang Wangchuk, Executive Director · Bhutan Foundation.

Bjarke Ingels — Architect · BIG — Bjarke IngelsArchitect · BIG

Juan Manuel Santos — Nobel Peace Laureate · Fmr. President of Colombia — Juan Manuel SantosNobel Peace Laureate · Fmr. President of Colombia

Matthieu Ricard — Monk & Author — Matthieu RicardMonk & Author

Antony Gormley — Artist — Antony GormleyArtist

Konstantin Novoselov — Nobel Laureate · Physics — Konstantin NovoselovNobel Laureate · Physics

Richard Roberts — Nobel Laureate · Medicine — Richard RobertsNobel Laureate · Medicine

Rebecca Henderson — Harvard Business School — Rebecca HendersonHarvard Business School

Tshering Tobgay — Prime Minister of Bhutan — Tshering TobgayPrime Minister of Bhutan

Karma Tshiteem — GMC Core Working Group — Karma TshiteemGMC Core Working Group

Carissa NimahChief Marketing Officer · Brand Bhutan

Thinley Choden — Social Entrepreneur — Thinley ChodenSocial Entrepreneur

Tshewang Wangchuk — Executive Director · Bhutan Foundation — Tshewang WangchukExecutive Director · Bhutan Foundation

Carissa NimahChief Marketing Officer · Brand Bhutan

Why Bhutan

As the world rethinks progress, Bhutan, the only nation to measure Gross National Happiness, invites leaders to explore what it and the world can learn from one another.

What to expect

Across three days, invited guests from Bhutan and beyond come together through conversation and celebration, with curated opportunities to experience Bhutan's culture firsthand.

Who it's for

For leaders who question the answers as much as they answer the questions, and are ready to put their influence to work on a better, more mindful future.

What questions can Bhutan and the world answer together?

Some questions come into focus only when we leave the usual view behind. BIF-27 considers what an intelligent age should make possible for people, and what it should never ask them to give up.