The return of hard problems

For much of the 2010s, the centre of gravity in tech was attention. Companies were under pressure to build fast, scale software, and optimise distribution. The mobile wave met cloud infrastructure, platforms became dominant, and capital rewarded speed above almost everything else. If you could acquire users efficiently and iterate quickly, you could build something valuable.

Now, we’re seeing the conversation change. Look at where serious capital and engineering talent are flowing: semiconductor manufacturing, grid storage, robotics, advanced materials, defence technology, industrial decarbonisation. 

These aren’t frictionless SaaS tools or consumer apps. They’re physical systems. And they’re deeply entangled with regulation, geopolitics and long development cycles.

The centre of gravity is moving from optimising clicks to engineering molecules. And at LEAP, we’re here for the journey. 

Why the shift – and why now? 

Constraints have become clearer, and so have real, urgent limitations in the way we currently live and work. 

Geopolitics has made supply chains visible again. Chips are no longer just components inside devices; they’re strategic assets tied to national resilience. Climate pressure is reshaping industrial priorities, as grids strain under demand and extreme weather tests infrastructure built for a different era. Across cities globally, crumbling bridges, water systems and transport networks are reminding us that the physical world doesn’t update itself in the background while we get on with our lives.  

Hard problems have always been here. But the urgency around them has been renewed, and so has the toolkit we can use to solve them. 

Advances in AI are accelerating materials discovery, while simulation environments and digital twins allow engineers to model infrastructure before it is built. Advanced manufacturing techniques reduce iteration time, and sovereign funds and public-private capital are aligning around long-term industrial capability rather than short-term optimisation.

Instead of being separate domains, the lab and the cloud are now very much intertwined. 

Convergence of disciplines is driving real change 

In the LEAP:IN newsletter this week we’re writing about self-healing concrete. Because the process of developing a material like this is a sign of the times: the convergence of different scientific and technological disciplines is speeding up discovery and execution – replacing slow experimentation and isolated research silos with computational modelling, cross-disciplinary teams and faster feedback loops. 

Hard problems aren’t solved by single-discipline thinking:

• Semiconductor resilience demands materials science, advanced manufacturing, supply chain strategy and geopolitical awareness.
• Climate resilience blends grid modelling, storage innovation, regulatory design and financing structures.
• Robotics pulls together mechanical engineering, AI, hardware supply chains and human-centred design.

None of these challenges sit neatly within one industry vertical. They require proximity – and not just to capital, but to expertise.

It’s why ecosystems are more important than ever 

That’s where gatherings like LEAP become more than event stages. When robotics engineers find themselves in conversation with semiconductor designers, and climate technologists share space with policymakers, and founders building advanced materials meet investors who understand long development cycles – the distance between disciplines shrinks.

In rooms like these, the hard problems feel less abstract. Engineers encounter regulators. Policymakers hear directly from builders. Investors engage with infrastructure, not just interfaces. Those collisions enable the collaboration that now drives serious innovation across boundaries. 

The return of hard problems requires new kinds of rooms. Rooms where science meets software; where capital understands patience; and where ambition stretches beyond optimisation.

So join us at LEAP 2026. We’re committed to creating the space for multi-disciplinary tech ecosystems to grow – and for you to meet the partners you need for the future.