Manama – September 23, 2026 -- Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X, has joined the speaker lineup for Fintech Forward 2026, set to take place 7-8 October 2026 at Exhibition World Bahrain under the theme 'Finance in the Age of Intelligent Infrastructure'.
Gawdat brings 27 years of tech leadership to the financial services debate
Gawdat's career spans IBM, NCR, Microsoft and Google, where he helped launch nearly half of Google's global operations before leading business at Google X, the lab behind self-driving cars, Project Loon and Makani. He is also founder of the One Billion Happy movement, host of the Slo Mo podcast, and author of bestsellers including Solve for Happy, Scary Smart and Unstressable.
Fireside chat will target human judgment in AI-driven finance
At FF26, Gawdat will appear in a session titled 'When Intelligence Is Everywhere: What Should Humans Still Decide?', examining how AI systems increasingly shape decisions on money, investing, risk and customer interaction, and where human accountability must remain.
"AI is no longer a distant technology; it is becoming part of the infrastructure behind our choices, our institutions, and our financial systems," Gawdat said, adding that the real test is whether humans stay clear about which decisions require human judgment and values.
Bahrain's financial sector contributed 17.6% of GDP in 2025
Financial services remains Bahrain's largest economic sector, contributing 17.6% to GDP in 2025. The forum is hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board with support from the Central Bank of Bahrain, Tamkeen, the Bahrain Tourism & Exhibition Authority and Bahrain Fintech Bay, and is programmed by Forbes Middle East.