NDTV World Summit 2025: Not Technology Or Politics, The Future Is Brown, Says Parag Khanna
At NDTV World Summit 2025, AlphaGeo Founder and CEO Parag Khanna said, 'The future of humanity is brown,' which simply means the answer lies not in technology or politics, but in demographics.
On the Day 2 of NDTV World Summit 2025, AlphaGeo Founder and CEO Parag Khanna said, "The future of humanity is brown"' which simply means the answer lies not in technology or politics, but in demographics.
"The literal answer to the future of humanity is through demographics. We the people. We don’t have to be philosophical at all. The future of humanity is the young people of today," Khanna said.
Khanna explained that Gen Y (millennials), Gen Z (teenagers), and Gen Alpha (toddlers) together represent the future. These generations, largely under 40 years old, define the new global demographic.
"The youth of Asia is by far the largest number of young people on the earth. Asia not only represents more than half of the global population, but it also represents an even larger share of the world population of tomorrow. Quite literally every single day, week, month, year, the world becomes more Asian demographically," Khanna stated.
Addressing how migration shapes the planet's future, he continued, "The future is brown, the future is also Asians. And wherever Asians decide to go, they take Asia with them."
Global Mobility and Migration Trends
Khanna observed that people are relocating across borders 'like never before.' He identified five main factors driving global migration:
Demographic imbalances
Political upheaval
Economic dislocation
Technological disruption
Climate change
"Never in the history of this world has there been such an imbalance between where old people are and where young people are and both within nations and across nations. Bridging the gap between old and young to ensure intergenerational balance is a key part of fiscal sustainability," he noted.
Khanna also linked technological transformations to migration, pointing out that industrial shifts and automation displace jobs and push people to move in search of new opportunities.
Citing post-pandemic data, he revealed that global migration surpassed pre-2019 levels by 2022 and has continued to climb since then. He urged India to embrace climate adaptation and reduce friction in global mobility to stay aligned with this evolving human geography.
