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Davos was abuzz with AI, but let’s not forget that this is an economic forum
What are the key takeaways from this year’s World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting? IMD experts share reflections direct from Davos.
Global leaders and business executives descended on the Swiss ski resort of Davos to take the pulse of the global trends and thinking at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting. Themed around re-building trust, geopolitics and AI were top of the agenda, with the latter pervading conversations from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) to mental health.
Here are some of the main takeaways from IMD faculty and staff:
Davos abuzz with AI chat but uncertainty abounds
AI dominated the discussion at Davos, and Open AI’s CEO Sam Altman was one of the big names in attendance. Many big tech firms, including Salesforce and Microsoft, took over the shopfronts along Davos’ main promenade and a dedicated AI house was a popular attraction outside of the Congress Center, while almost every other house had panels devoted to the topic. But it was questionable if any progress was made on the important issues.
“Despite the hype, I did not really hear anything new. It was for sure interesting to hear several political leaders discussing AI, but it does not seem to – yet – go beyond the sentiment of ‘we are finished if we do not act now,’” said Öykü Işik, Professor of Digital Strategy and Cybersecurity. “When it comes to industry leaders, I can’t help but wonder when we will get past the ‘it’s time to jump on AI message.’ Even when it comes to risks, it was underwhelming to hear the same examples being shared.”
With AI sucking up a lot of the oxygen, there was also significantly less discussion this year on other equally valuable topics, such as cybersecurity and quantum computing, she added.
Amit Joshi, Professor of AI, Analytics and Marketing Strategy, agreed: “Everyone remains very concerned about the potential downsides of this technology, sometimes even more than the upsides.” Regulation continues to be a sticking point, especially on issues like copyright and misinformation management, he added.
A desire for properly considered public regulation and clearer guidelines from companies around the use of GenAI was one of the findings in the new whitepaper Charting the Future: Switzerland’s Path to Generative AI Leadership in 2024 and Beyond co-authored by IMD, digitalswitzerland, and EPFL which was presented at Davos.
Joshi noted that GenAI is moving from curiosity to application and creating value. Yet, companies and even countries may be underestimating the resources and efforts that would be required to positively manage this technology, he said.
Many of the conversations at Davos revolved around AI’s potential as a ‘co-pilot’, which can enhance productivity but will depend on humans continuing to exercise their own expertise and judgment rather than fully trusting the results. Because of this, basic skills like digital literacy and distinguishing facts will become increasingly important.
Inclusive leadership needed to navigate technological change
“With the advent of GenAI, we will see tremendous changes to the world of work,” said Alexander Fleischmann, IMD Research Affiliate. “A massive reskilling is due, which opens up a huge opportunity for DE&I work to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups. These changes will also impact what leadership looks like, and inclusive skills will be needed more than ever to make this change a collective process,” he said.
“Everyone I met at Davos was a change agent, working on furthering our education, sustainability, and just development efforts, or working on new business models, often using recent developments in AI or tokenization.”- Misiek Piskorski, Professor of Digital Strategy, Analytics and Innovation and Dean of IMD Asia and Oceania
Despite the recent backlash against DE&I, Heather Cairns-Lee, Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication and co-author with Fleischmann of the white paper Inclusive Language and Images, noted the power of language to unite or divide, to heal or harm and to reflect and shape culture. Greater attention is needed to the use of inclusive language to create more inclusive societies and close the gender gap,” she said.
Sarah Toms, IMD’s Chief Learning Innovation Officer, was inspired by the diversity represented in the Davos events, lounges, and houses, with the Female Quotient’s (FQ) Equality Lounge often packed and featuring high-profile speakers. IMD is an academic partner to the FQ.
“The quality of several women-led initiatives presented some of the highest quality conversations, where experts challenged audiences to think boldly in novel ways. Of course, GenAI was central to many of these conversations – on stage and off stage. At the intersection of the world’s most difficult issues, like climate change and equality, there seems to be optimism for the future where technological advancements could help to deliver solutions,” she said.
Misiek Piskorski, Professor of Digital Strategy, Analytics and Innovation and Dean of IMD Asia and Oceania, was similarly struck by the diversity of the crowd at this year’s conference. He also noticed a real commitment to collaborative action.
“Everyone I met at Davos was a change agent, working on furthering our education, sustainability, and just development efforts, or working on new business models, often using recent developments in AI or tokenization,” he said. “They hailed from Japan, China, Singapore, India, the UAE, Ethiopia, Europe, and the Americas, and they were all incredibly open to share their visions with others, but also to learn from others. Through these diverse conversations with people from across the globe, I came away with at least 10 different ideas of how we can better deliver on IMD’s mission of developing leaders who make a positive change in the world.”
Geopolitical cloud hangs over events
Against the backdrop of wars in Europe and the Middle East, geopolitics remained a top focus this year with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in town to hold high-level talks and make sure the conflict remained at the forefront of executives’ minds.
“Ukraine had a strong presence at Davos, reviving discussions on the price of freedom and democracy, as well as the need for Western support for Ukraine and strengthening sanctions against Russia,” said IMD Chief Sustainability Officer Natalia Olynec.
“The Ukraine House was prominently located on the main thoroughfare with the slogan ‘Deciding Your Tomorrow’, reminding the world of what’s at stake after almost 700 days of Russian invasion – a global food crisis, broader international war, spreading cyberwarfare, and a serious threat to rules-based order.”
Mental health awareness becoming more mainstream
How to tackle the mounting crisis of workforce mental health has moved up the agenda, with sessions on this topic outside the Congress Center taking place to packed audiences.
While stress levels in the workplace are still at an all-time high, employees are taking a more active approach to managing mental health, said Alyson Meister, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change. This is supported by employers who are increasingly investing in well-being. “That said, initiatives that focus on solving the symptoms and don’t get to the root of stress-related problems at work do not move the needle,” she said. “Organizations need to develop and promote sustainable, inclusive working cultures.”
Huge advances in digital and AI-related solutions for mental and brain health and well-being are allowing organizations to better prevent burnout and offer more tailored and personalized well-being solutions to employees. This includes the use of predictive analytics that can detect stress through your retina, allowing for preventative interventions. There are also some fascinating breakthroughs being made in neuropsychiatry, precision pharmaceuticals, and personalized medicine for mental health.
As the world faces a loneliness crisis, more people are turning to chatbots for interaction. That’s an upside to the technology, but it has the potential to damage social skills and human communities, added Meister.
Collaboration on sustainability in focus
While it may have been pushed off the top agenda by AI, there was still a healthy discussion around sustainability and climate in some of the events outside the main Congress Center.
The WEF’s Global Risks Report, published ahead of the annual meeting, named extreme weather events, critical change to Earth’s systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and natural resources shortages as the top global risks over the next 10 years, underscoring that the topic can’t afford to be sidelined.
“Sustainability featured as one of the biggest mega transformations of our era, which can be accelerated through digitalization and inclusive leadership. This requires greater transparency and accountability throughout value chains,” said Olynec who was speaking on a panel called “Women In Tech & Allyship at the WORLD WOMEN FOUNDATION 2024.
That said, initiatives that focus on solving the symptoms and don’t get to the root of stress-related problems at work do not move the needle.- Alyson Meister, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change
“Davos this year was about rebuilding trust where collaboration on sustainability was in focus,” said Professor of Strategy and Lundin Chair Professor of Sustainability Knut Haanaes, who moderated a session with B Lab attended by almost 200 board members on topics such as industry alliances, business opportunities, making governance work, and inspiring change. “One big takeaway for me is that sustainability is now becoming a strong movement,” he said.
Let’s not forget the WEF is an economic forum
“The WEF is primarily an economic forum, and because of that we should not be derailed by other conversations taking place collaterally about inclusion or sustainability,” stressed Arturo Bris, Professor of Finance and Director of the World Competitiveness Center.
He noted that the WEF Global Risks report highlighted two key challenges for 2024: misinformation and geopolitical risk.
“My takeaway is that, in the context of uncertainties that cannot be managed by corporate executives, we need better governments, more collaboration between the public and the private sector, and more organizational agility to respond fast to unexpected crises.
“With respect to AI, we saw COP28 to the power of three: agreements on the need for a global regulatory framework without a way forward, no clear consensus about the impact of AI on our economies, and the realization it is too early to assess the costs and benefits.”
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