‘HSE University Considers Training in AI Technologies to Be a Basic Requirement’

© Dmitry Orlov / Roscongress Foundation

‘Technologies of the Future: A Common Global Space or Every Nation for Itself?’ was the title of a session held on June 19, 2025, with the support of Alfa-Bank at this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2025). The discussion featured HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov and was moderated by journalist, TV presenter, and public figure Ksenia Sobchak.

Opening the discussion, Ksenia Sobchak noted that we are currently living through a second technological revolution. The first was the widespread adoption of computers and the internet; the second is centred on AI, which, she said, means we are about to witness a vast number of breakthroughs in the economy, medicine, and human life in general.

Ksenia Sobchak

© Andrey Sidorov

‘It would seem that this is the perfect moment to join forces as never before, to face new challenges and opportunities together. But these breakthroughs are happening against a backdrop of global technological fragmentation—and that poses a great many additional challenges for all of us,’ the moderator stressed.

Vladimir Verkhoshinskiy, Chief Managing Director of Alfa-Bank, stated that the politics of technological isolation leads to a dead end, and for this reason, his bank prioritises openness. In the industrial economy of the past, one could patent a gear, a machine, or a robot. But in today’s digital economy, it is impossible to patent code—any innovation is easily replicated—and he considers this a positive development.

Vladimir Verkhoshinskiy

© Andrey Sidorov

‘Western countries were at their greatest in the 1990s and early 2000s, when they were technological leaders and openly shared their technologies with the world,’ added Vladimir Verkhoshinskiy. In his view, many national leaders today are pursuing protectionist policies, seeking to close everything off and prohibit access.

Turning to Nikita Anisimov, Ksenia Sobchak observed that as a key institution for training future professionals, HSE University must also be grappling with these modern challenges. In particular, she asked how the university is adapting its programmes to meet the demands of AI.

Nikita Anisimov clarified that the entire education system can be seen as a forge for talent, though some institutions simply prepare students for the workplace, while others create the technologies of tomorrow, reflect on the future, and shape future values. ‘It is important for us—and there are not many such universities in the world—to have an environment that generates future technologies. The world needs universities that are not just a forge for talent, but for the technologies of the future,’ he said. Such institutions—universities—exist both in Russia and globally, and they are incorporating AI technologies into their curricula and teaching these technologies.

Nikita Anisimov

© Andrey Sidorov

‘HSE University considers training in artificial intelligence technologies to be a basic requirement. Our students take a digital literacy exam in their first year—and if they fail, they are expelled,’ explained the rector.

He also noted that just 1% of the world’s leading universities are competing for the top 1% of global talent, and that every applicant sees studying at such a university as entering a unique environment and culture—an investment in oneself, a way to unlock one’s potential—rather than mere preparation for a specific job. According to Nikita Anisimov, this broader understanding of the university has traditionally been characteristic of Russia as well.

The HSE rector also proposed a hypothesis: that the trend towards training students for specific job roles today is driven by strong demographic pressures on the labour market. Therefore, resolving the demographic issue is key to preserving the essence of university education.

‘What is the point of a forge for talent? To fill jobs. And then you say to every university—even those that are supposed to nurture environments for shaping the future—“look, we just do not have enough people.” That is why solving the demographic issue is critical to achieving technological leadership,’ Nikita Anisimov emphasised.

The moderator then directed a series of questions to Mikhail Oseevskiy, President of Rostelecom, regarding the potential for transforming various AI tools used for editing, design, visuals, and more into a single unified system. ‘It is like having many different wallets with different currencies in them—it seems organised, but in reality it is chaos,’ Ksenia Sobchak remarked.

Mikhail Oseevskiy

© Dmitry Orlov / Roscongress Foundation

Mikhail Oseevskiy responded that it is impossible to create a single universal solution that would work effectively for every type of task. ‘That is why we develop tools for ourselves first, and then bring them to market—like our “neuro-gateway” product. It allows staff and clients to access different AI engines “under the bonnet,” depending on the task at hand. These can include global models,’ he explained.

At the same time, he stressed the importance of data sovereignty and security: we cannot load just any information into solutions that do not belong to us. In corporate operations, he said, interaction should be carried out through neural networks hosted in our own data centres, trained specifically on our own data sets.

‘We believe in diversity—but within the framework of a single product, ensuring both personal and corporate security,’ Mikhail Oseevskiy concluded.

Other participants in the discussion included Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Ivan Chebeskov, Chairman of the Moscow Exchange Management Board Viktor Zhidkov, and science fiction author and futurist from Singapore Chen Qiufan, author of the bestseller AI 2041.

To conclude the session, Ksenia Sobchak invited the participants to briefly respond to the question posed in the session’s title. As it turned out, the speakers were unable to reach a consensus on whether a unified global technological space could be achieved.

Vladimir Verkhoshinskiy, Chief Managing Director of Alfa-Bank, offered the most optimistic outlook: ‘Technology has no borders—especially now, in the digital age, just like friendship and love. In the short term, over the next 30–50 years, it may be every nation for itself. But looking ahead strategically, 100–200 years into the future, we may well see a single global—and hopefully beautiful—technological space.’