It was a business-dominated Davos this year, with revived animal spirits and confidence in a stronger economy. Until the last day of the World Economic Forum, there was much more attention given to AI, energy future, and the new geo-political reality of East and West.
Below are my observations from the week:
President Trump:
On his fourth day in office, President Trump addressed a packed auditorium via video conference and shifted the focus of the event. He told WEF participants that America was back, the dawn of a new golden age. It would be based on lower taxes, less regulation, more energy production, lower prices, and tariffs to encourage production in the U.S. The crowd was taken aback by his blunt warning to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan about failure to lend to conservatives. He issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, reiterating his desire for a quick solution to the war, suggesting that further sanctions would be forthcoming unless a compromise is reached.
AI:
There is acknowledgement of AI as the most beneficial technology ever in solving diseases or fighting climate change. But there is also the risk of general-purpose technology, with bad actors using agent-based systems that are autonomous. Mitigating the risk requires global cooperation and regulation. Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, outlined principles of Trust in AI, including fairness, reliability, privacy, inclusiveness, transparency, and responsibility. Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said AI promises to save lives on the road; there were one million fatalities in 2024. “AI will ultimately be better than humans at driving.” The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, said that by 2027, models will outperform humans. Both said that AI must perform better than humans. There is no tolerance for a self-driving car going off the road. Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet, said that there needs to be open sourcing on drug discovery, adding that early diagnosis of disease is a great way to address inequality.
Energy:
I heard very different visions of an energy future. The Volvo team was quite bullish on the inevitability of Electric Vehicles, stating that Norway is already 85 percent EVs. The nuclear industry is preparing for a boom, with small nuclear plants being built to power the burgeoning data center sector. Ebba Busch, Energy Minister of Sweden, said, “We used to ban nuclear. Now we intend to lead, as part of our carbon-neutral pledge by 2040.” She is planning 80-100 deals. Luc Rémont, CEO of EDF, the large French utility, is planning joint ventures with European construction companies. He said, “This won’t work if we build plants one at a time. We need economies of scale.”
Global Trade:
Globalization will change, with more North-South than East-West trade. There will be more insourcing of production, diversification away from sole reliance on China toward Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Mexico. Tariffs are the new means of leveling the playing field, but business continues to push back on this approach given the complexity of supply chain and consumer price sensitivity in the wake of Covid-induced inflation.
The EU:
Two European leaders, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, shared their vision for the EU. There needs to be a single financial market, not national stock markets. Europe must change, said von der Leyen. “We can no longer rely on export-led growth and cheap energy from Russia. We need better productivity, less red tape, a more conducive environment for SMEs to scale up, avoiding leakage of investment funds to the U.S., and free trade deals with Latin American and Asian nations.”
Ukraine:
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that his forces have established a standstill in the war with Russia. They are in a difficult but not critical situation. The country now sources one-third of its defense weapons locally. The agricultural sector is performing well, achieving the second highest level of agricultural exports in its history last year. He asserts that Putin will try to come again. He asked WEF attendees not to allow business as usual for Russia claiming that sanctions are working and must continue.
Gen Z:
I met Yasmin Green, head of Google’s Jigsaw unit. She is working with Gillian Tett, dean of Kings College in Cambridge on Gen Z literacy. “It is not a linear journey of information as in the past. Gen Z is concerned with social signals. As an example, a Gen Z reader will see a headline, read the comments about the story and only then read the story. They are triangulating, benefiting from the crowd sourced fact checking,” Green said. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that many in the Gen Z demographic, 53 percent of those aged 18-34, approve of one or more forms of hostile activism to bring about change, which includes attacking people online, intentionally spreading disinformation, threatening or committing violence, and damaging public or private property.
I left the Mountain feeling more confident about 2025. There have been 50 elections in the past year which have confirmed a rightward move of the electorate, towards deregulation, lower taxes and nationalism. That certainly will enable business to proceed instead of being frozen in place. The great unanswered question is the information system. With media under pressure on its business model and the increasing tendency of the public to believe those who agree with their positions, we have an unprecedented battle for Truth. Communicators, square your shoulders and get into the fight because facts matter.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
