Key Insights for the Intelligent Age & AI Adoption
Learnings from World Economic Forum in Davos
Big things happened in Davos.
The World Economic Forum held its annual meeting there in January, and the key theme was unsurprising.:
‘Industries in the Intelligent Age’. AI and quantum computing are driving change and disruption for businesses across sectors.
The rapid tech advancement in artificial intelligence is transforming everything. Changes are often happening right in front of your eyes.
Ufff. The speed!
There is one premise of the ‘Intelligent Age’ every leader should contemplate:
“If managed cooperativelly and mindfully, this revolution can enhance human potential.”
Here we are. Tech is one thing, the other is how you foster human-centric skills for collaboration, mindfulness, and leveraging human potential aka your team.
Find out below what the intelligent age needs.
Collaboration as a dialogue
The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 (WEFAM 2025) is itself a place for a dialogue. It is meant to discuss burning questions and build new partnerships.
Take 3,000 leaders from 130 countries and you get a huge participation and many opinions on the Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.
The big discussions in Davos, but also probably in your teams are:
“Addressing shared challenges and exploring sustainable solutions for collaboration.”
Collaboration stands on the willingness of people to take part in it. They need to believe they will be listened to.
That is why many companies launch communities and insights teams to create ongoing platforms for dialogues and continuous collaboration. The WEFAM 2025 is no different.
Don’t consider what is happening now. You also need to look into the future.
Take out No. 1: Find ways to truly work together as a team.
Trust each other
We live in an unpredictable era fuelled by political and security turbulences. Yet, people seek collaborative solutions to economic, environmental, and tech issues.
The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 shows that overall cooperation is above pre-pandemic levels. However, it stagnated due to declining global peace and security.
Leaders call for trust:
“Across the world, many economies are stepping up to work with one another on advancing innovative and growth agendas for all." - Mirek Dušek, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
“Protectionism leads nowhere. Trade war has no winners,” said Ding Xuexiang, Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China.
“We are fortunate the [South-East Asian] region is relatively the most peaceful, with the fastest growing economy and very pragmatic policies,” said Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia. “We are able to do that primarily because the relations and the trust between leaders are exemplary.”
Move to the small scale and think about how it works in your company. Do leaders trust each other? Do you even trust your boss?
Trust is the groundstone for embracing tech challenges these days. If you cannot trust your team, you will sooner or later deal with a mess and decline.
Investing in People
My favorite topic. We all know for a long time there is a need for workforce development. New jobs are being created and new skills are required.
You cannot rely on the self-education and discipline of individuals. Yes, some are driven and go the extra mile. But you also need the rest of the people. (yes, even the youngest generation!)
“Are you allowing your young people to move up? You have to understand this generation and prepare.” - Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the Interim Government of Bangladesh:
Review your job descriptions and avoid having a mismatch in skills and aspirations at the start. The world leaders call for access to skills.
Do not rely on academic training. You must provide opportunities for learning internally and externally.
How do you train your people? Does everyone in your team have the same access to new skills? Don’t forget inclusion and diversity.
“Healthier women form the foundation of stronger families, productive workplaces and resilient economies,” said Anita Zaidi, Board Co-Chair of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health, and President of Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
How you nourish your people will show how loyal they become. AI won’t be able to work alone. It needs people who collaborate and make sense of it.
Read also:
Security
Speed, speed, speed.
Tech influences everything. It makes it hard to keep up. What’s more, leaders call for security because what if it goes off the hands?
How is your cybersecurity? Do you have any solutions? Check: Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025
Responsible AI adoption is one thing, but how to keep it safe is a whole new world. Recommend watching these talks:
Defending the Cyber Frontlines | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025
Cutting through Cyber Complexity | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025
AI boundaries are becoming blurry. It's out there. AI goes after energy, nature, and climate in general.
TL;DR
What’s ahead of us?
Maybe we should ask chatGPT for it. Or maybe we should keep our eyes open and be ready to talk to everyone to build confidence to tackle challenges and upcoming tech integration together.
On the geopolitics scale, regional scale, and of course your team scale.
Have a good one, Ivona
On the menu:
Thursday Newsletter: Make Your Decisions Better by Small Tweaks in Communication
Workshop: Emotionally Intelligent Leadership in the Age of AI
In this 90-minute interactive online workshop, you’ll discover:
✅ How to leverage EQ to lead with confidence in an AI-driven world
✅ The 4 key EQ skills every modern leader needs to stay ahead
✅ How to make better decisions by balancing logic and emotional insight
✅ Practical strategies to motivate teams, reduce resistance, and drive performance✅ You also get an EQ Action Plan, EQ Leadership Microguide, and one free follow-up session to discuss challenges after the workshop
25th of Feb at 2 pm (CET)
