The new oil: How semiconductors are redrawing the map of global power

Based in Atlanta, Falcomm is a semiconductor company focused on ultra-efficient RF power amplifiers, operating in markets that include telecommunications, defense, and satellite communications. As global demand for advanced chips continues to rise, companies like Falcomm are becoming central to broader conversations around economic competitiveness and national security.

For most of the 20th century, oil defined global power dynamics. Today, semiconductors have taken on that role, underpinning modern economies and defense infrastructure. Microchips are embedded in everything from smartphones to fighter jets, making access to advanced semiconductor technologies a defining factor in geopolitical influence. Nations that lead in chip design and manufacturing increasingly set the terms of global trade, security alliances, and technological standards.

“This is the new reality shaping the most critical decisions in industrial policy in Washington, Amsterdam, and Beijing,” Mukhtarbek said. “The global competition for semiconductors has moved beyond the technology sector and become a key factor in international strategy.”

Within this high-stakes environment, Mukhtarbek has been recognized for her role in bridging capital markets and public sector engagement. In her position at Falcomm, she contributes to investor relations and government strategy, supporting the company's efforts to secure funding and align with national policy priorities. Her work reflects a broader understanding that the most consequential semiconductor breakthroughs will require sustained collaboration between private innovators and government institutions.

Her involvement in fundraising includes active participation in investor discussions around valuation, governance, and long-term capital strategy, responsibilities that reflect the lean, cross-functional nature of early-stage deep tech companies where roles tend to expand beyond formal titles. She also represents Falcomm at conferences, venture capital events, and industry summits at both the national and international level, leading government relations and investor engagement efforts on the company's behalf. Her own perspective is helping shape the conversation in the subject, as shown in her most recent article. As lead author of “Chips, Power, and Geopolitics: The Race to Control the Future,” she examined semiconductor supply chain fragility, the concentration of advanced manufacturing around Taiwan, and the strategic calculus behind US policy responses that reflects a genuine effort to understand the structural forces her company operates within.

What makes her profile notable extends beyond her responsibilities at Falcomm. Zhaniya Mukhtarbek is a Kazakh professional who pursued her education across Asia, Europe, and the United States before building a career at the center of one of the most strategically significant industries in the world. She is part of a generation of internationally trained professionals who have moved into advanced technological sectors as an effort to bring a global perspective.

“The semiconductor industry impacts every nation, and addressing future supply chain challenges requires a global perspective,” according to Mukhtarbek.

The semiconductor race is no longer confined to a handful of established technological powers. As chips become the defining strategic resource of the twenty-first century, the nations that shape the industry's future will be those that can draw on global networks of talent, capital, and policy expertise

Emerging economies like Kazakhstan sit at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and are home to a rising generation of internationally trained professionals. That positions them to claim a real stake in the semiconductor industry and shape the balance of economic and strategic power for generations to come.