Recent

On December 19th, the “Jerusalem Post”, Israels largest English speaking newspaper, published a commentary written by Sebastian Kurz about the UAE’s diplomatic success during the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai.

Click here to read the whole text.

On November 21st, the renowned Wall Street Journal reported, that the cybersecurity company Dream Security, raised $33.6 million in a round of investment in Israel. The company was founded by NSO founder Shalev Hulio, Sebastian Kurz, and Gil Dolev, and within about a year, it already has around 70 employees and a valuation of $200 million.

New York City, September 21st: The German entrepreneur, investor, and visionary Christian Angermayer annually hosts distinguished figures from the fields of science, politics, and business at the Angermayer Policy & Innovation Forum in New York City, providing a platform for discussions on current topics. This year, Sebastian Kurz served as a co-host for this established event. Prominent guests included the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and former Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper.

On September 6th, a documentary about Sebastian Kurz premiered in Austrian cinemas, exploring his early political career and his journey from State Secretary for Integration to Foreign Minister, eventually becoming Federal Chancellor, and delving into his new life as an entrepreneur. The film provides insights into the mindset of political opponents as well as allies. Produced in collaboration between the Austrian Pongo Film and the German Opus-R, with Sascha Köllnreitner directing, the premiere took place in Vienna’s “Artis” cinema, with around 700 guests in attendance.

October 26th, Riyadh: Global regulatory agencies, national legislators, and standard-development organizations are currently in the process of formulating frameworks to optimize the benefits of AI for society while addressing its inherent risks. For these frameworks to successfully navigate through bureaucratic processes, it is imperative that the associated policies and supporting infrastructure exhibit resilience, transparency, and equity. Additionally, a multilateral approach is crucial, given the interconnected nature of economies and jurisdictions in the rapidly evolving landscape of technology. Despite the complexity of these tasks, it is essential to ensure that the policies and infrastructure are robust enough to adapt to the intrinsic interoperability of underlying technologies.

However, the practical implementation of these ideals is far from straightforward. During a discussion at the 7th Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Sebastian Kurz, along with Eric Daimler, Co-Founder & CEO of Conexus, and Michael Kratsios, Managing Director of Scale AI, explored the challenges and potential solutions. The focus was on identifying actionable steps that business leaders can take to stay ahead in the dynamic and evolving field of AI.

Learn more here: https://fii-institute.org/conference/fii7/ 

On Friday, 28th of July, Sebastian Kurz was invited as a speaker to the annual festival of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Esztergom, Hungary, where he spoke about geopolitical challenges, relations between Austria and Hungary and the question of how the European Union can get a grip on illegal migration.

Read more here.

On the sidelines of the opening of the Salzburg Festival, Sebastian Kurz and the Salzburg entrepreneur Markus Friesacher hosted a party with around 300-400 guests at the famous Café Bazar right on the banks of the Salzach on Thursday, 27th of July. Personalities from business, politics and sports were present.

Read more here.

From June 26th to 28th, Sebastian Kurz attended the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China. In addition to numerous meetings with business representatives, he was also a speaker on a panel discussing the future of the Belt and Road Initiative. He summarised his thoughts and impressions in an article which you can read here.

At this year’s CEE Wealth Summit at Palais Ferstel in Vienna on 14 June, Sebastian Kurz took questions from co-host and moderator David Grammig in a fireside chat at the start of the summit.

The topics ranged from private questions and assessments of international developments for investors to the topic that is currently on everyone’s mind: Artificial Intelligence. Kurz stated that AI will bring massive changes to our business world and our society. Many jobs will certainly be eliminated – including white-collar jobs – but on the other hand, new jobs will also be created.

Asked about the war in Ukraine, Kurz said that he had great empathy for the suffering of the Ukrainian people and that a swift end to the armed violence was needed. For Europe, he said, the war had serious economic consequences in addition to the humanitarian aspect; in particular, the rising energy costs were a burden for the citizens.

Kurz considers decoupling – i.e. an end to economic cooperation – between the USA and China to be wrong, although Democrats and Republicans have never been so united as in this endeavour. He believes that only a globalised world can create prosperity.

Learn more about the CEE Wealth Summit here. 

On 8 June, Sebastian Kurz visited the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg at the invitation of the Hamburg businessman and owner of the museum, Peter Tamm Jr.

In addition to a guided tour of the museum, Sebastian Kurz spoke with former journalist and current media manager Hans-Hermann Tiedje about geopolitical developments, such as the war in Ukraine and the tensions between the USA and China, in front of around 100 invited guests from Hamburg’s business community.

Click here to learn more about the Museum.

Photocredit: Beate Zoellner

At this year’s F2 Venture Capital Conference on 31 May in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sebastian Kurz spoke about his political career, geopolitical developments and why cybersecurity concerns him. F2 Venture Capital is an Israel-based venture capital firm with around $500 million in assets under its management.

Together with two Israeli partners, Sebastian Kurz founded the cybersecurity company Dream in Tel Aviv, which specialises in the protection of critical infrastructure.

Learn more about Dream here.

In his guest commentary in the German newspaper “WELT”, Sebastian Kurz writes about conservative politics, the media and migration.

He puts forward the thesis that conservative parties may possess strong positions, but often lack the courage to assert them against the prevailing media mainstream, which tends to favor left-leaning positions.

The article was published on 4 May.

Click here to read the commentary.

Sebastian Kurz was a speaker at this year’s Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles on 1 May. There he spoke on a panel with high-profile participants about the future of democracy and potential threats and opportunities for our society.

Learn more about the Milken Global Conference here.

Ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz talks with the Austrian magazine trend in an exclusive interview on 15 April.

Click here to read the interview.

On 15 April, Sebastian Kurz appeared as a guest on the ORF programme “Im Zentrum” to engage in a discussion with other experts about Europe’s approach to China. Once again, he made it clear that he is not a proponent of the policy of “decoupling,” but rather advocates for maintaining close economic relationships as it ensures long-term prosperity and peace.

The programme also delved into the question of whether Europe plays a geopolitical role in a potential conflict between the United States and China. Kurz emphasized his belief that while Europe is undoubtedly part of the West, it must also develop its own distinct identity and independent opinions separate from the United States.

Watch the whole programme here.

Click here to read the interview.

On 31 March, Sebastian Kurz was invited to participate in a panel discussion organized by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in Frankfurt am Main.

The event focused on his experiences as a politician and his transition to a new life as an entrepreneur, investor and consultant. The discussion also covered topics such as the media landscape and challenges within the judiciary system.

Read here.

Watch here.

In his office in Vienna, the former Federal Chancellor spoke about his move into the private sector and his departure from politics.

Click here to read the interview.

On 1 February 2023, representatives of international companies, founders, and decision-makers came together at the Cybertech Conference in Tel Aviv, to discuss geopolitical developments and challenges in the IT sector. This year, together with his partners at Dream Security, Sebastian Kurz also participated in the event.

During his keynote, Kurz not only presented the activities of his company but also expressed his views on current geopolitical threats in the realm of digital infrastructure. Using recent examples, he explained the motives behind the establishment of Dream Security.

In his time as Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, he witnessed on several occasions the severe consequences of cyberattacks on our infrastructure or industrial companies. From the theft of sensitive data to paralyzing administrative systems and causing blackouts, our society has become more vulnerable in the age of digital connectivity. Additionally, wars are increasingly being waged in cyberspace, and this trend will continue to intensify in the coming years.

Click here to learn more.

In an interview with the German magazine “Stern,” Sebastian Kurz discusses his departure from politics, the false accusations against him, and his new life as an entrepreneur.

Click here to read the interview.