The West
How to Make Poland Great Again
10 bold ideas to transform Poland into a global leader.
Jacek Migdal
Jan 27, 2025 - 8:41 AM
Jan 27, 2025 - 8:41 AM
Share
From Growth to Potential
Thinking Big
The goal of this article is to inspire us to think big. We should pursue ambitious opportunities and play asymmetrical games. We should not fear failure; some of the ideas below will not succeed. But while small failures are acceptable, we can double down on what works and aim for transformative success.
Poland is like a student who graduated from a “developed economy” university with top grades. Congratulations, but the real world is very different from a campus. There is no point in prolonging the university phase. We are ready to embrace the new reality and position ourselves as capable leaders.
We are now independent. We have the freedom to pursue our ambitions and the ability to execute them. The world is full of problems and problem-makers but we are not one of them. Our ambition should be to be problem solvers and trusted partners who improve the world, similar to how Shopify makes e-commerce easier or DJI produces world-class, affordable drones.
This is not charity; it is a strategy to earn Poland a place in the economic super league. I am excited to share my list of ambitious grand projects for the new era.
Let me suggest 10 ideas:
1. DARPA-Style Military Research
Poland faces a serious existential threat from Russia, and one of the most effective ways to counter it is by achieving a technological edge across all scenarios. Poland should emulate DARPA’s approach: funding demonstrated capabilities through milestone-based programs, allowing ample room for experimentation, diverse approaches, and even failure.
Potential research areas include:
Ensuring the security of shipping lanes against pirates and other disruptions. For instance, Houthi actions that block critical sea routes currently impact the economies of Europe and Egypt.
Strengthening border control through advanced drone technology capable of both detecting and responding to irregular crossings.
Developing capabilities to defend against hybrid warfare, which includes cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns, economic pressure, and unconventional military tactics.
Innovation in the modern military is currently constrained by gatekeepers. In the U.S., compliance with ITAR requires citizenship, and even then, only billionaires can realistically challenge prime contractors. Palmer Luckey, for instance, sold Oculus for billions before founding Anduril.
Poland could become an entrepreneurial breeding ground for military innovation, providing talented teams from around the world the freedom and resources to experiment, build, and scale technologies that other nations’ regulatory frameworks currently limit.
2. Europe’s Hub for Self-Driving Tech
Self-driving car technology has taken longer than expected, but it is finally ready. Waymo taxis operate in several U.S. cities, and others, such as Tesla, may soon follow. The potential is enormous but Europe risks falling behind by overregulating and stifling adoption.
Historically, Europe succeeded by taking calculated risks when others hesitated. For example, Portuguese experts and King John II rejected Christopher Columbus, but Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II of Spain financed his expedition. Similarly, Poland could show strategic courage by becoming a testbed for frontier technologies such as autonomous vehicles. Waymo already has an office in Warsaw, and Poland should actively invite other companies, creating a predictable, business-friendly, forward-looking regulatory environment.
Self-driving cars face extraordinary safety expectations, higher than human drivers. Incidents are inevitable—Cruise burned $5 million per day, and a single mishap could otherwise halt operations. Poland should design a regulatory framework that balances safety with innovation: provide fair and swift compensation (e.g., $1 million for at-fault fatal accidents) without shutting down entire ventures. In return, companies should commit to R&D investment and technological partnerships, ensuring Poland captures both economic and strategic benefits.
3. Acquire Distressed Tech to Spark New Industries
We live in an era of disruptions, deglobalization, and market reshuffles. Many promising technologies, brands, and companies are available at discounted prices not because they lack potential, but because they are too early, undercapitalized, or poorly managed.
4. Focus on the Drone Industry
Drones are set to dominate both military and civilian industries. Today, the market is largely controlled by a single Chinese company, DJI. The war in Ukraine demonstrates that success is not about producing a few handmade drones, it is about mass-manufacturing at scale and constantly innovating.
Poland should aim to build vast domestic capabilities, which are essential for Europe and the USA. While we may not compete commercially from Day 1, Poland must be relentlessly focused on expanding its drone manufacturing capacity. In peacetime, drones could become a strong export product. In wartime, the country could rapidly pivot to producing military swarms, giving Poland and its allies a decisive technological edge.
There are several ways to pursue this goal:
Use export subsidies to grow—South Korea style. The EU may resist, so we could structure support around military purchases. For example, for every 10,000 commercial drones sold, a single military drone from the same company could be procured.
Lobby within the EU for favorable regulations. Rules like geofencing or mandatory security chips to prevent malicious use could be leveraged to favor domestic production.
Recruit drone manufacturing talent from Ukraine. The war has created a pool of highly skilled engineers and innovators who have built advanced drones under extreme conditions. Providing them with an industrial base could accelerate Poland’s capabilities.
Attract DJI or similar factories to Poland. As with the automotive industry, we could encourage EU/US tariffs or regulations while allowing Chinese companies to operate within EU joint ventures. This would create local production and know-how while maintaining strategic leverage.
5. Medical Tourist Facilities
The world is ageing rapidly, and healthcare systems are under mounting pressure. Many countries fail to train enough doctors, and cumbersome, costly processes further constrain supply. Even more concerning, innovation, whether through AI adoption or prioritizing patient outcomes, often takes a back seat.
Healthcare services remain inherently local and difficult to scale internationally. While medical tourism exists, it is still a niche market with clear limitations, including vulnerability to bad actors. In this sector, reputation is everything, and robust systems to manage inevitable mistakes are non-negotiable.
6. Set Up Boarding Schools for Future Immigrants
We should investigate which types of immigrants would benefit Poland the most and determine the best ways to attract them. One approach could be establishing boarding schools, vocational training centres, or part-time educational institutions in regions with high recruitment potential—such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, India, and Africa. By providing quality education at low cost, supplemented with stipends, we can create opportunities that are mutually beneficial.
These institutions would also allow us to set clear qualification criteria, evaluate students over two or more years, and equip them with valuable skills. Those who demonstrate the greatest promise could be offered visas with a straightforward path to permanent residency, ensuring they contribute meaningfully to our workforce and society.
7. Attract Talent with Company and Group Visas
Poland made a brilliantly strategic move with its Business Harbour Program, successfully relocating numerous companies from Belarus. This boosted human capital, increased tax revenue, and strategically weakened an adversarial regime. While working with uncooperative authoritarian states carries inherent risks, the potential benefits far outweigh the downsides.
In today’s economy, companies are defined by their people. Many of the world’s most talented individuals are trapped in countries that lack the infrastructure and environment to support their success. This creates a golden opportunity: Poland should step in and offer company-wide visas covering all employees and their families.
Most visa systems today focus narrowly on individuals or small family units. Poland could innovate with a new visa category designed for larger groups—extended families, specialised industry teams, or entire companies. Processing applications collectively would simplify bureaucracy and increase appeal. Actively scouting where other immigration systems fall short could position Poland as a global leader in talent acquisition. These visas should also include a clear pathway to permanent residency, ensuring we retain the best talent for the long term.
8. Go Big or Go Home
Poland has an impressive entrepreneurial spirit, but it struggles to produce rapidly growing large companies. The current system doesn’t do enough to encourage scaling, many entrepreneurs settle for small or medium-sized businesses. And honestly, why take on extra risk, tax burdens, and headaches if life is already comfortable? Scaling comes with significant challenges that deter even the most ambitious.
The problem is that many industries today have massive entry barriers and operate on winner-takes-all models. Without big companies, think $1B+ valuations, Poland risks missing key opportunities and losing its ability to compete globally. Without these “chips,” we can’t play in the big leagues.
Instead of glorifying the small business model, we should create targeted incentives for rapid growth. Entrepreneurs who hit specific milestones could benefit from regulatory or tax breaks designed to reward scaling up. By making high growth more appealing and less risky, Poland can foster a new wave of globally competitive businesses that punch above their weight.
9. Make Competitive Intelligence a National Sport
The world is awash with disinformation, and many companies exist more as financial engineering projects than as organizations genuinely serving clients or employees. Inefficiencies abound, and addressing them could unlock tremendous value. While private equity firms often exploit these gaps for profit, their processes are opaque, and the rewards typically go only to wealthy investors.
Why not democratize this value creation? The public could actively participate in exposing inefficiencies and improving companies. One approach is to create paid competitions for top talent to analyze major corporations, assessing their strengths, weaknesses, customer satisfaction, and technology. The results could be published openly, much like academic research, fostering credibility and transparency.
This initiative could double as a training ground for aspiring entrepreneurs and a wellspring of innovation. It could also serve as a source of soft power, offering insights to improve some companies while publicly exposing flaws in others. Done right, it wouldn’t just be a tool for reform, it could become a platform for shaping industries and inspiring the next generation of problem-solvers.
10. Last but Not Least
Poland needs more investments in R&D, a new airport, AI research, defense, good diplomacy, cheaper housing, and high value-added services and products.
While many of these priorities are well-documented, there is still room to grow. Expanding infrastructure, such as the CPK airport and related railways, is crucial. AI research is another obvious trend with immense potential. These are all essential initiatives, often highlighted by experts, and they remain key to Poland’s future success. Let’s continue to focus on these necessary steps to ensure sustained growth.
That wraps up the list, thank you for taking the time to read it. For other countries, there will be no shortage of opportunities to partner, invest, and collaboratively seize what the future holds. But this time, Poland shouldn’t wait for luck to come its way. Instead, it’s time to make its own.
Share
Jacek Migdal
