Wolfgang Fengler

Wolfgang Fengler is a globally recognized economist, futurist, and data innovator with over 20 years of leadership experience at the World Bank, where he served as Lead Economist in Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation. During his distinguished career, he lived and worked across four continents — the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe — gaining deep expertise in global economic development, big data, and population dynamics. He is the creator of population.io, a groundbreaking data tool launched at TEDx Vienna in November 2014 and endorsed by Bill Gates, which earned him recognition as a "big data virtuoso" by the German weekly DER SPIEGEL. In 2020, he was featured in Aftershock as one of the world's 100 leading futurists. His insights and research have been covered by major global media outlets including the Financial Times, The Economist, BBC, CNN, and CNBC. Prior to his World Bank tenure, Wolfgang served as CEO of Africa Consulting, LLC, and as a Fellow at the Research Institute for International Relations. He holds a PhD from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and currently serves as CEO of World Data Lab, where he continues to drive data-driven solutions to the world's most pressing economic and development challenges.