There is a third wave of philanthropy coming to shore — one that could be the tide that lifts society's important boats, but only with an understanding of the currents, careful navigation, courage, and community. So argues a Fortune commentary by an author who has led strategic philanthropy at the Milken Institute for nearly two decades and has never, in that time, seen a tidal wave like the one now approaching.

The scale of the coming wealth is immense. In 2026, the world witnessed the largest initial public offering in history when SpaceX raised $75 billion, achieving a $1.77 trillion valuation. Those massive figures, the author notes, may soon be eclipsed: Anthropic and OpenAI, the two leading artificial intelligence labs, are both racing to go public in the coming months, each with estimated valuations of at least $1 trillion.

The massive valuations of the AI labs mean that thousands of tech workers are suddenly becoming wealthy. An estimated additional $37 billion will flow to the philanthropy sector annually as a result. The question before these tech employees, the commentary contends, should not be what this wealth can buy, but rather what it can do.

The argument rests on long experience. In nearly two decades of leading strategic philanthropy at the Milken Institute, the author has spent ample time with philanthropists, their families, and financial advisors, helping identify how their wealth could be used amid economic booms and busts. Just last year, the author interviewed several ultra-high-net-worth families as they grappled with how to transition their legacy of giving to the next generation.

The conclusion drawn from that work is that philanthropic potential has never been greater than it is about to be. In 2026 alone, US charitable giving rose to $617 billion, and this new capital carries a track record of exponential growth. If used strategically, it can be leveraged to unlock $1.5 trillion in catalytic capital or to guide trillions in annual government funding. The moment, the author writes, calls for tested principles of wayfinding in philanthropy.

The first is addressed directly to those set to receive this newfound wealth for the first time. There will be a litany of ways to use the capital, but the essential first step is to establish an identity for giving that represents core values. Some of the best philanthropy, the author notes, starts from a place of personal connection.

The next is to lean into the complexity of today's most pressing problems — those that feel nearly impossible to solve. The examples cited range from closing the hunger gap, estimated on the low end at $33 billion annually, to managing plastic pollution, estimated on the low end at $50 billion annually. Just as AI now allows connections, patterns, anomalies, and insights to be found more quickly than ever before, the author argues, that same spirit and mindset can be brought to tackling housing insecurity, climate change, poverty, and other multifaceted problems.

Challenges of this kind, the commentary stresses, are not solved with single interventions but by systems-based solutions that may require careful choreography of complementary approaches — research, building novel partnerships, policy change, awareness campaigns, social movements, or impact investment into commercial solutions. In this framing, philanthropy can rewire and transform systems. It is society's risk capital, deployable to derisk solutions so that other types of funding, from government to the capital markets, can flow in.

Through its work, the Milken Institute has seen this derisking power time and again, the author writes — from advancing unproven, early-stage medical research to identifying and testing novel technologies created by entrepreneurs from around the world with no commercial track records, and creating investable opportunities for other financing that can bring pioneering solutions to market and at scale.

The philanthropy journey can be a lonely one, but there is an opportunity to connect, learn, and grow together. Giving circles are the fastest-growing form of philanthropy, having tripled from 2016 to 2023. The Milken Institute offers philanthropists of all backgrounds opportunities to gather, connect, and meet on a peer level — to learn from one another and explore ways to pool resources to achieve maximum charitable impact. This, the author suggests, is a welcome opening to invite the new cohort into the fold.

The commentary also confronts a perception that philanthropy is outdated — that it exists solely to garner positive press, and that nonprofits are not equipped to drive the change we need. True philanthropy, the author counters, is not as simple as writing a check; when done with intention, it can lead to real-life, impactful change.

The exact timeline for when the AI companies go public remains in flux, but there is no doubt, the author writes, that new wealth will be coming online soon — and some of it is already here. It amounts to a call to action for this new cohort of captains to continue the legacy set before them by decades of philanthropists. It could be one of the largest infusions of new philanthropic capital in a generation, and it must not go to waste: the seas are too stormy, and the stakes are too high.

As the third wave of philanthropy comes to shore, the piece concludes, the task is to rally around these new philanthropists — may they find their North Star, set off with the courage and curiosity of history's greatest explorers, embrace the unknown and unimaginable, and discover not just where they can go, or what they can buy, but what they can do to make the world a better place.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.