Last week, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2026 brought nearly 3,000 leaders to Davos, Switzerland, under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue.” Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change, the focus was clear: cooperation, responsible innovation and resilient growth.  

As Head of Transformation and Office of the CEO at Genesys, together with Bimal Mathews, Global Strategic Relations in the Office of the CEO, we see this as a pivotal moment for organizations to balance innovation with responsibility amid an expanding landscape of risk and compliance requirements. Below are our key takeaways from Davos 2026.

Key Themes on AI Transformation

1. AI Moves from Technology Hype to Enterprise Reinvention

One message was unmistakably clear at Davos. AI transformation is not just a technology transformation. Unlike previous digital or traditional IT-led initiatives, AI represents a full enterprise transformation, spanning people, processes and technology.

Leading organizations have moved well beyond piloting isolated use cases or automating individual tasks. The hallmark of this next phase is redesigning critical end-to-end workflows and rethinking how work gets done across the enterprise, with AI embedded at the core.

It’s no longer about incremental efficiency gains. It’s about recoding the enterprise, using AI to fundamentally drive productivity, unlock growth and enable new operating models.

Automation remains table stakes, but the real value comes from augmentation and personalization, where AI can elevate human performance and adapt in real time.

Successful AI transformation also demands sharp prioritization. During conversations at the forum, a common theme was the need to rigorously assess priorities based on business value and feasibility, balancing impact with complexity to focus investment where it truly matters. 

Across panels and private conversations, the narrative shifted significantly from a year ago. There was less emphasis on speculative timelines for general AI and more on pragmatic deployment, measurable outcomes and operational challenges. Some described this shift as the transition from noise to strategic signal — where AI’s value is judged by execution, not promise. I have found this to be true throughout our AI transformation within Genesys over the past year, where progress has been defined less by experimentation and more by disciplined execution that’s aligned with business value and employee experience.

2. Trust, Governance and Responsible AI

AI governance was a dominant topic on the Davos agenda. Across sessions, policymakers, CEOs and AI experts highlighted the need for trustworthy and context-aware governance frameworks — ones that align with real-world risk profiles, sector-specific needs and measurable outcomes. 

This reflects a broader global push toward responsible AI deployment, where ethical guardrails aren’t afterthoughts but foundational elements in strategy and product design.

At Genesys, we echo this call for practical and principled AI governance because we believe responsible AI isn’t an afterthought — it’s essential to preserving trust and enabling innovation at scale. Our approach embeds ethical principles such as transparency, accountability, fairness and privacy into the full AI lifecycle, helping to ensure systems act as intended and aligned with human values. We also pursue rigorous frameworks and controls so our customers can confidently deploy powerful AI solutions that are both safe and transformative.

3. Workforce Transformation and Skills Readiness

The consensus at the WEF was clear: Humans and AI are better together. The goal isn’t replacement, but partnership. AI handles scale, speed and complexity. Humans bring judgment, creativity, empathy and accountability.

The AI workforce transformation is as much cultural as it is technical. It requires rethinking organizational design, investing in up-skilling and AI literacy, and preparing teams to work confidently alongside intelligent systems. As Genesys CEO Tony Bates noted during his Xperience 2025 keynote, this shift is about redefining the relationship between humans and AI. It’s about AI becoming a trusted coworker, working right alongside your people to deliver better outcomes.

The companies that get this right will not just adopt AI; they will redefine how their enterprise operates and competes.

4. Sovereignty, Equity and Global Cooperation

AI is increasingly viewed through the lens of sovereignty and economic parity. Some conversations at the WEF were about how nations and regions are investing in sovereign AI capabilities — locally governed AI models, data and infrastructure — to  strengthen their competitive position and to build infrastructure that reflects local values, data governance norms and strategic priorities.

At Genesys, we’re working to advance sovereignty by expanding the global reach and compliance of the Genesys Cloud™ platform — bringing full-service cloud regions and locally governed infrastructure to markets around the world so customers can meet data residency and regulatory requirements with confidence. We’ve also built a robust foundation of international certifications and governance standards that enable organizations to balance performance, sovereignty, trust and compliance as they adopt agentic AI responsibly.

Strengthening Genesys Voice in Global AI Dialogue

Genesys is at the forefront of AI innovation and transformation. We understand it’s our responsibility to be present in global discussions that influence technology; AI governance; and the responsible use of AI, workforce transformation and enterprise adoption.

Engagement in forums like the World Economic Forum allows us to not only stay close to emerging policy and economic conversations, but also actively participate, contribute and lead — ensuring the voice of customer experience, ethical AI and human-centric innovation is represented at the highest levels.

Watch the Davos 2026 Recap

Catch the official WEF Annual Meeting 2026 closing film for a quick overview of the week’s themes and outcomes. And see what Genesys is doing to equip organizations to safely and quickly innovate with confidence.