Artificial intelligence continues to reshape economies and markets, but its rapid expansion is also exposing new constraints across energy, infrastructure, labor, and capital. As investors navigate an increasingly complex landscape, the debate has shifted from AI's potential to the practical realities of building the systems that support it.

In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido speaks with Jean Boivin, Head of the BlackRock Investment Institute, about BlackRock's 2026 Midyear Outlook. Together they examine the report's central theme - scarcity versus abundance - and discuss how AI, higher capital requirements, geopolitics, and structural economic changes are influencing today's investment landscape.

Jean explains why today's market environment is defined by multiple competing outcomes rather than a single base case, introducing the concept of "polyfurcation." He also explores the evolving AI investment opportunity, the importance of infrastructure, the role of tactical portfolio construction, and why investors may need to rethink traditional diversification as megaforces continue to reshape markets.

Key insights

How AI is creating both new opportunities and new economic constraints
Why scarcity has become a defining macroeconomic theme
How "polyfurcation" changes the way investors think about uncertainty
Why infrastructure is becoming central to the AI investment story
How portfolios may evolve beyond traditional asset class diversification
Where investors are focusing as AI continues to reshape global markets

AI investing, Midyear Outlook, capital markets, infrastructure investing, megaforces, stock market trends, artificial intelligence, global economy

Sources: BlackRock Investment Institute, Midyear Outlook 2026

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266: 2026 Midyear Outlook: Scarcity vs. Abundance in the Age of AI

The Bid - An Investing Podcast from BlackRock

266: 2026 Midyear Outlook: Scarcity vs. Abundance in the Age of AI