I just spent the week alongside tech CEOs. This is what they’re discussing — and it’s far more nuanced than just which AI model is winning the race.
I spent the past week in conversations with some of the world’s most influential technology executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, digging into what’s truly driving their priorities for the year ahead and which themes are likely to shape investor confidence.
As expected, artificial intelligence dominated nearly every discussion. But unlike last year, the focus wasn’t on flashy demos, chatbot rivalries, or model benchmarks. This time, the dialogue matured. Leaders were far more interested in how AI will be deployed at scale inside real businesses — and how emerging developments could impact revenue growth and stock performance across the global tech sector.
Enterprise AI Adoption Enters a More Mature Phase
Enterprise AI adoption is set to accelerate this year, but not in the same experimental way we saw previously. In 2025, many companies rushed into AI through pilot programs that rarely made it into full production.
Back then, businesses leaned heavily on off-the-shelf tools like chatbots from Microsoft, OpenAI, and others. Much of that adoption was driven by fear of missing out. As Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent’s cloud group, explained, companies felt pressure to jump in quickly just to keep pace.
This year looks different.
Executives told me that organizations are becoming far more selective. Instead of experimenting broadly, companies are now targeting specific use cases that tie directly to productivity, efficiency, or revenue.
Customers have moved past the FOMO phase, Tong noted, and are now asking sharper, more practical questions about value and outcomes.
Raj Sharma, EY’s global managing partner for growth and innovation, echoed that sentiment. He emphasized that real impact will come when businesses redesign entire workflows around AI rather than layering the technology on top of old processes. That’s where meaningful returns will finally start to show.
Agentic AI: Still Buzzing, But Reality Is Setting In
Agentic AI — one of last year’s biggest buzzwords — continues to dominate executive conversations. The idea centers on AI systems that can perform tasks on behalf of humans, ideally with minimal oversight.
While progress is being made, tech leaders were clear that the reality is more complex. Adoption varies widely by industry, and most implementations today are limited to specific, well-defined workflows rather than fully autonomous operations.
Uljan Sharka, CEO of startup Domyn, was blunt in his assessment. He believes today’s agents are helpful but far from replacing human employees.
That said, some leaders are more optimistic. Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Prosus, revealed that his company already has around 30,000 AI agents in operation. Looking ahead, he believes it’s entirely possible that within five years, some companies could be largely run by AI agents.
In his view, this shift isn’t built on hype — it’s a structural change already underway.
Geopolitics Is Becoming an AI Wild Card
Beyond technology itself, geopolitical uncertainty surfaced repeatedly in conversations.
Sharma pointed out that global political dynamics could become one of the biggest accelerators — or barriers — to AI adoption worldwide. Regulation, trade restrictions, and national competition are increasingly shaping how and where AI innovation unfolds.
China’s rapid progress in AI and semiconductor technology also sparked debate. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, recently suggested that Chinese AI models are only months behind their U.S. and Western counterparts — a claim that underscores how tight the global race has become.
For many executives, geopolitics is no longer a background concern; it’s now a central factor in long-term AI strategy.
Physical AI: The Next Major Frontier
Another theme gaining serious momentum is physical AI — where artificial intelligence takes tangible form through robotics, autonomous vehicles, and intelligent machines.
This shift felt especially real in Davos. At one dinner, a robot wasn’t just part of the conversation — it was sitting at the table.
According to EY’s Sharma, physical AI represents the “next wave” of innovation and could grow to be five to six times larger than the agentic AI market within the next five to six years.
Sassine Ghazi, CEO of Synopsys, admitted he once thought physical AI was at least five years away. Now, he believes it’s arriving far sooner than expected.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang went even further, calling AI-driven robotics a once-in-a-generation opportunity — particularly for Europe, given its strong industrial and manufacturing base.
The Bigger Picture
From pragmatic AI adoption to autonomous agents, geopolitical tension, and the rise of physical AI, the message from Davos was clear: the AI conversation has grown up.
I just spent the week alongside tech CEOs. This is what they’re discussing — not just what’s possible, but what’s practical, profitable, and inevitable. And those shifts could define the next chapter for the world’s biggest technology companies.