Gravity beyond Einstein? Yes, but in which direction?

I will present qualitative arguments in favour of an extension of the theory of the gravitational interaction beyond that resulting from the Hilbert-Einstein action. To this end, I consider a locally conformal invariant theory of gravity, discussed some 30 years ago by Mannheim and Kazanas. I will discuss its exact solution of the static, spherically symmetric configurations and, based on these, I will revisit some of the outstanding problems associated with gravity, high energy interactions and sketch potential resolutions within the conformal gravity framework.