AI is reshaping the global economy, says Mizuho's investment banking chief

Michal Katz, head of investment banking at Mizuho Americas, made a strong claim at the Mizuho Technology Conference: artificial intelligence is no longer just an optimization tool. It is a systemic force that is reshaping the competitive landscape of entire national economies and will change how global capital is distributed.

AI wherever there is data

According to Katz, there is no sector that AI has not already affected. From financial services to manufacturing, from healthcare to logistics and retail, the technology is being built into business processes and decisions at an accelerating pace.

Banks use AI in call centers, fraud detection and credit scoring. Manufacturers are deploying AI in supply chain management and demand forecasting, gaining a competitive edge in efficiency. Medical institutions are starting to rely on diagnostic systems based on neural networks. Retail chains are optimizing inventory forecasting and offer personalization.

This is not a future that has yet to arrive. It is the present, which the leaders of every industry have already entered.

A geopolitical redistribution

But Katz's most far-reaching conclusion concerns countries, not companies. Countries that become AI leaders will gain an asymmetric advantage in the global economy. This is not a science-fiction scenario but a thoroughly pragmatic analysis that investors and policymakers already see.

What awaits global economies:

• GDP grows faster in economies where AI is adopted earlier and more deeply
• Leading companies in each industry capture a larger share of the market, creating "winner-take-most" dynamics
• Countries lagging in AI innovation risk losing competitiveness in traditional export sectors
• Talent migration will intensify: developers will move to innovation hubs
• Exchange rates will begin to reflect differences in the AI readiness of national economies

For investors, this means a country without a strong AI industry will find it harder to deliver returns to shareholders. For policymakers, it means that ignoring AI development is ignoring long-term economic sovereignty.

Adoption is accelerating

Katz stressed one more point: the speed at which AI is adopted in business processes is growing exponentially. Where corporations once spent years testing and rolling out new technologies, leaders now start using fresh models in production within months.

This creates a chain reaction: early adopters gain an advantage, which forces competitors to speed up adoption, which in turn accelerates innovation cycles across the whole industry. Those who fall behind risk being shut out of key markets.

What this means

AI's impact on the economy could once be discussed as a cosmetic productivity improvement. Now it is a systemic requalifier of the global market. Investors who do not factor the AI readiness of companies and economies into their valuation models risk missing key growth opportunities and underestimating the risks of requalification.