The article is devoted to the socio-cultural aspects of the formation of a new technocratic elite in Russia, corresponding to the perspective of the so-called «society 5.0». There were some concerns about the impact on the process in the interest of the whole community. As a hypothetical proto-elite environment, on the basis of which the «elite 5.0» can crystallize in the future, the student contingent of leading Russian universities with increased requirements for the level of training is considered. The article presents the results of empirical research of this category of youth, on the basis of which its worldview, models of personal self-realization and hierarchy of values are reconstructed. Based on the reconstruction of the inner world of the «avant-garde» part of the Russian students, carried out on the basis of psychosemantic probing, forecasts are made about the possible evolution of the views and social attitudes of the updated Russian elite. The special role of the American and Chinese models in the formation of young educated Russians‘ ideas about how modern society should develop is noted. At the same time, based on the data of the study, the author substantiates the thesis that the Russian intellectual youth does not show a tendency to a sharp break with the traditions and, probably, with the strategy of traditionalist modernization is currently being implemented in Russia.