At Davos 2026, the New A.I. Race Is About Execution

At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, artificial intelligence was no longer framed as an emerging technology. It was treated as infrastructure. Across panels, private dinners and side conversations, the debate had clearly shifted: the question is not whether A.I. will transform economies and institutions, but who can operationalize it at scale under tightening geopolitical and social constraints.

Polished talking points and transactional networking were expected. Instead, the prevailing tone was unusually open and collaborative. Leaders across industry, government and investment circles engaged in candid discussions about what it actually takes to build, deploy and govern A.I. systems in the real world. 

From breakthroughs to infrastructure

In prior years, A.I. at Davos was often positioned as a horizon technology or a promising experiment. This year, leaders spoke about it the way they talk about energy grids or the internet: as a foundational capability that must be embedded across operations. In closed-door sessions and enterprise-focused discussions, including an Emerging Tech breakfast hosted by BCG, A.I. was consistently framed as something organizations must build into their core operating model, not test at the margins.

Enterprise leaders stressed that A.I. can no longer live in pilots or innovation labs. It is becoming a core operating layer, reshaping workflows, governance structures and executive accountability. One panelist put it bluntly: in the future, there may not be Chief A.I. Officers, because every Chief Operating Officer will effectively be responsible for A.I. The real work now is redesigning roles, incentives and processes around systems that are always on and deeply embedded, rather than treating A.I. as a bolt-on feature.

The rise of agentic systems

Another notable shift was the focus on agentic A.I. systems. Instead of tools that merely assist human work, these systems are designed to plan, decide and act across entire workflows. In practical terms, that means A.I. that does more than answer questions: it can determine next steps, call other tools or services and close the loop on tasks.

This evolution is forcing a rethink of traditional software-as-a-service models. Many founders and executives spoke about rebuilding products as A.I.-native platforms that actively run processes, rather than software that passively supports human operators. As these systems take on greater autonomy, questions of liability, oversight and human intervention are moving from the margins of product design to the center of both enterprise architecture and regulation.

Workforce pressure and the hollowing of entry-level work

Concerns about labor displacement were far less theoretical than in previous years. Executives spoke openly about hiring freezes and the quiet erosion of traditional entry-level roles. Routine analysis, reporting and coordination work—the tasks that used to anchor junior jobs—is precisely where A.I. systems are advancing fastest. 

In response, reskilling is shifting from talking point to strategy. Rather than assuming A.I. capability can be “hired in,” organizations are building structured pathways to retrain existing employees into A.I.-augmented roles. A parallel trend is intrapreneurship: with experimentation costs lowered by A.I., companies are encouraging employees to propose pilots and launch internal ventures, channeling entrepreneurial energy inward instead of losing it to startups.

Governing speed, not stopping it

Despite the urgency to deploy A.I., some of the most grounded conversations in Davos centered on governance. These were not abstract ethics debates, but rather operational discussions about how to move quickly without creating unacceptable legal, reputational or societal risks.

The emerging consensus has formed around what many described as “controlled speed”: rapid iteration paired with mechanisms that make systems observable and correctable in real time. Leaders described embedding governance directly into workflows through auditability, data controls, red teaming, human-in-the-loop checkpoints and clear ownership for A.I. outcomes. 

In policy-facing sessions, including gatherings of world leaders, similar themes surfaced around embedding accountability into A.I. deployments at scale, rather than trying to slow progress from the outside.

A.I. as a geopolitical asset and the rise of sovereign A.I.

One of the clearest through-lines was the link between A.I. and geopolitical power. At a TCP House panel, Ray Dalio captured a widely shared view: whoever wins the technology race will win the geopolitical race. Across Davos, speakers framed A.I. capability as a determinant of national influence, economic resilience and security.

This framing is driving a wave of sovereign A.I. initiatives. Governments are investing in domestic data centers, local model training and tighter control over critical infrastructure to reduce strategic dependency. The goal is not isolation so much as resilience, a balance between domestic capability and selective global partnerships. At the Semafor CEO Signal Exchange, for instance, Google’s Ruth Porat warned of the risk of an emerging A.I. power vacuum if the United States fails to move quickly enough, creating space for competitors to set the terms of the next era.

For enterprises, these dynamics translate into concrete decisions around data residency, model dependency and vendor concentration in a more multipolar world.

Diverging regional strategies

Regional differences in A.I. strategy were hard to miss. Europe’s regulatory-first approach is shaping global norms, but many participants voiced concern that it may constrain commercial leadership. Europe is becoming a reference point for risk mitigation and rights protection, even as questions persist about whether it can also serve as the primary engine of A.I.-driven growth.

By contrast, the United States and parts of the Middle East are advancing aggressively through coordinated policy, capital investment and large-scale infrastructure build-outs. Discussions around semiconductors, satellites and cybersecurity reinforced how tightly A.I. deployment is now coupled with national resilience and defense considerations. Regions that move fastest on infrastructure and deployment are likely to set technical, regulatory and commercial defaults that others will eventually be forced to adopt.

Domain-specific A.I., with biohealth in front

While general-purpose models remain central, much of the energy in Davos was focused on domain-specific A.I. Healthcare, biotechnology, energy and agriculture stood out as sectors where A.I. promises enormous value alongside heightened risk. Biohealth, in particular, was central to discussions of drug discovery, diagnostics and clinical decision support.

Across these domains, participants stressed that success depends on deep collaboration between engineers, domain experts and regulators. Transparency, verifiability and accountability were repeatedly described as prerequisites for A.I. systems that touch public safety, critical infrastructure or social trust. In one AgriTech-focused session, for example, speakers emphasized that A.I.’s role in food security hinges as much on governance and data integrity as on optimization.

A human signal amid rapid change

Beyond the technical themes, the tone of Davos 2026 was striking in its human-centric nature. Panel after panel emphasized deploying A.I. in the service of humanity, not just efficiency or profit. Many speakers pushed back against deterministic or doom-driven narratives, highlighting that humans still write the models, set the rules and decide what A.I. ultimately serves.

An Oxford-style debate hosted by Cognizant and Constellation Research captured this spirit. Participants were divided into “Team Humanity” and “Team A.I.,” and the format was deliberately interactive, not about winning an argument, but about changing minds on humanity’s purpose in an A.I. age. That focus on agency and responsibility ran through both formal sessions and late-night conversations.

Davos does not dictate the future of technology. It reflects what people with power and capital are already preparing for. This year, the signal was clear: A.I. has entered its infrastructure phase. Competitive advantage will come from how organizations govern it, integrate it into work, retrain their people and navigate sovereignty and dependency risks, not from who can demo the flashiest model.

Amid the urgency, what stood out most was the human element of thoughtful, collaborative people trying to build something better. In a moment defined by rapid change, that may be the most important signal of all.