Recently at Davos, we were again reminded that AI is enjoying more than a moment. Look no further than the AI House to understand both the promise and the tension of AI, highlighting the collaboration, joint agenda setting, and action to address the many aspects of the technology that are weighing on global leaders.

How did we get here so quickly? For better or for worse, AI has proven its breakneck pace is part of the deal. The evolution of AI and the impacts on our global marketplace will change our social and economic trajectory in ways we are only beginning to understand.

Although a surprise to no one that AI would take center stage at Davos, conversations around just how prominent it is and the possibility behind it are helping to bring the future into focus. Through 45 sessions in a week span, as leaders addressed everything from jobs to skills, healthcare and defense to regulation and governance, there was no mistaking that AI is a driving force for the global economy and society at large.

Much of the discussion centered on AI’s ability to solve hard, aspirational problems that may not be solvable by people, like climate change and many of the most dangerous health problems. Still, the need to balance the clear benefits with the risks and unintended consequences is on the minds of leaders globally, much like it is among policymakers for the U.S. and in state capitals across the country.

A common theme seemed to be business leaders aren’t sure what to do with AI in the immediate term, even though they feel an urgency to be doing something. In this context, the WEF’s 2024 theme, “Rebuilding Trust,” seemed particularly pointed. Concerns about AI’s potential to set off global catastrophe have waned a bit since 2023, but concerns about the technology’s ability to cause more immediate and personal harm have taken center stage—from how deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation may affect elections around the globe to AI’s demonstrated tendency to foster discrimination in business and the likelihood that AI will displace millions of human jobs not too many years into the future.

Leaders discussed how to harness AI to propel local and global economies forward in equitable ways, and—while some attendees expressed concern about over-regulation—most participants seemed to welcome governments working to establish guardrails. The challenge on the policy front is how to develop policies that are firm enough to offer meaningful protection while flexible enough to continually adapt as the technology adapts.

Businesses across every industry are tracking the trajectory of the AI discussion and searching for the best ways to incorporate the good aspects of AI: medicine that can help cure cancer or deliver the vaccine for the next global pandemic, banking and finance applications that could remove barriers to credit, climate tech that could significantly impact global warming, and much, much more. AI is here to stay. How businesses use and regulate AI will define the future; how they communicate this to their stakeholders to build transparency and trust will define their license to move forward. Bringing stakeholders along with an awareness not only of their relationship to the business but also their social and political identities should be top on everyone’s priority list.

The stakes are undeniably high, but the opportunity for businesses to leverage AI to benefit their brand, their market position and their relationship with key audiences is even greater.

Davos Digs Deep into AI for Global Stakeholders