What we heard at Davos—And what it means for The Futureproof Community

The Futureproof Project kicked off 2026 with a live virtual session featuring Hayley's insights from the World Economic Forum, where policymakers, enterprise leaders, and technologists gathered to shape the future. We discussed geopolitics, AGI timelines, workforce evolution, enterprise AI adoption, and what it all means for marketing leaders navigating this moment.

This session felt like a collective calibration on where we are, what's changing, and where we need to lead next.

Here are the signals that matter, with key insights from Hayley throughout:

Macro AI and geopolitical trends.

“The big themes [at Davos] were geopolitical instability, AI innovation—is anyone actually innovating—and AI ROI. Is anyone actually showing any ROI yet?”

One of the most sobering insights from Davos is that we’re operating in an environment defined by instability, not just acceleration. There was a distinct shift from last year’s “AI disruption” buzz to something more grounded—and more uneasy.

The global AI race is no longer metaphorical. Hayley recounted how Chris Lehane from OpenAI made it clear: OpenAI’s goal is to beat China. Meanwhile, Europe—despite policy leadership—is “left out of the party”, and lacking a seat at the table when it comes to LLM innovation.

And yes, AGI in 2026 was a serious conversation.

“Elon Musk said 2026 is the year of AGI. A lot of people are agreeing.”

Whether you believe that’s visionary or vapor, the urgency is real.

Enterprise AI challenges.

One of the most consistent pain points from both Davos and our report: still ROI.

“Not a lot of people [are] showing ROI yet. CFOs are getting antsy.” 

Our AI Marketing Guide echoed this concern: most organizations are struggling to justify AI investment in the short term, despite the long-term promise. There’s also a growing realization that the AI models themselves weren’t built for enterprise workflows.

Hayley reminded us, “They’re trained on consumer knowledge sources. They don’t actually have a lot of enterprise network knowledge.”

So where do we go from here?

We’re seeing a clear shift from "AI for productivity" to AI for smarter work. Davos speakers (and execs we work with every day) emphasized the need to rethink job roles, org structures, and how cross-functional teams work together.

One phrase that came up repeatedly: “Rewiring the enterprise.”

That means evolving skillsets, tearing down silos, and aligning incentives—not just installing tools.

We must lead with purpose.

One of the most powerful moments in our session came when Hayley addressed the role of marketing leadership. I truly loved this one, and the whole room was nodding.

“I get mad when I ask people any type of ethical question about AI and they say, ‘That’s above my pay grade.’ CMOs, that is your pay grade.”

The CMO has a critical responsibility—to shape how AI is implemented with intentionality, to use their platform to upskill teams, and to ensure the brand’s use of AI aligns with trust and transparency.

Our report agrees, and said it like this: CMOs need to move from reactive to human-centric innovation leaders, ensuring the brand doesn't just adopt AI, but does so ethically, inclusively, and with eyes wide open.

Storytelling is infrastructure.

The consumer experience is collapsing into seconds. The average consumer changes context every 47 seconds, and 73% will drop a brand after two bad digital experiences. Add to that a fundamental shift in discovery: 60% of Google searches now end without a click, as AI reshapes how people find information.

In this environment, narrative isn't a "nice-to-have"—it's core infrastructure.

"The customer journey is nonlinear. Your story better not be." — Adam Kleinberg

Too many brands—especially in B2B—underinvest in storytelling. But a story is what builds emotional relevance in a world where logic and traditional SEO aren't enough. As attention spans shrink and digital fatigue rises, the story is what connects—across teams, channels, and experiences.

The human element and workforce readiness.

Davos also pulled focus toward the human cost—and opportunity—of this transformation. As Hayley put it:

“Critical thinking... more important than ever. That makes me feel like liberal arts are back. And people want to hire people with resilience and GRIT."

We’re entering what some are calling the “attachment economy”—a post-attention era where people are building emotional relationships with AI, sometimes uncomfortably so. The Center for Humane Technology warned of mental health crises driven by human-AI intimacy, especially as users grieve “lost” chatbot companions after model updates.

But not everyone is even in the game yet.

"There is data that women are not using AI as much and certainly that came out - I was in a lot of rooms where there were not many women, and not many women on the stage. Thank God for May Habibi, pretty much the only female leader I saw on a stage who wasn't a CMO."

Across the Futureproof community, we’re hearing this too: people want to engage, but many don’t know how. And without dedicated education, we risk increasing inequality in who gets to participate in the future of work.

A Reminder for the Times.

As we face existential questions about AI, work, humanity—it's easy to get overwhelmed. But the most powerful thing we can do, as a community, is to focus on the garden in front of us.

The people we lead. The stories we tell. The choices we make.

"Tend your own garden." — Voltaire (quoted by Lauren Evans, VP of Client Services at Traction)

Let's keep building, y’all. Together.

FAQ

What were the big AI themes at Davos in 2026? Hayley Nelson, former Global Head of B2B Marketing at Logitech and Founder of the AI Initiative, reported three dominant themes from the World Economic Forum: geopolitical instability, AI innovation (with real questions about whether anyone is actually innovating), and AI ROI. The tone shifted from the previous year's AI disruption buzz to something more grounded and more uneasy, moving the conversation from AI hype to AI accountability.

Is 2026 going to be the year of AGI? It was a serious conversation at Davos. Elon Musk said 2026 is the year of AGI, and as Hayley Nelson noted, a lot of people are agreeing. Whether you believe that is visionary or vapor, the urgency is real, and it is pushing leaders to make decisions about AI now rather than waiting for the timeline to settle.

Why are enterprises struggling to show ROI on AI? Most organizations are struggling to justify AI investment in the short term, despite the long-term promise, and as Hayley Nelson put it, CFOs are getting antsy. Part of the problem is the technology itself. The models were not built for enterprise workflows. They are trained on consumer knowledge sources and do not actually have a lot of enterprise network knowledge.

Why should CMOs own the ethical questions about AI? Because ethics sits inside the marketing leader's remit. In Hayley Nelson's words, "I get mad when I ask people any type of ethical question about AI and they say, 'That's above my pay grade.' CMOs, that is your pay grade." The CMO shapes how AI is implemented with intentionality, uses their platform to upskill teams, and ensures the brand's use of AI aligns with trust and transparency.

Why is storytelling described as core infrastructure rather than a nice-to-have? The consumer experience is collapsing into seconds. The average consumer changes context every 47 seconds, 73% will drop a brand after two bad digital experiences, and 60% of Google searches now end without a click. Narrative is what builds emotional relevance when logic and traditional SEO are not enough. As Adam Kleinberg put it, "The customer journey is nonlinear. Your story better not be."

What is the attachment economy? The attachment economy is a post-attention era in which people build emotional relationships with AI, sometimes uncomfortably so. The Center for Humane Technology warned of mental health crises driven by human-AI intimacy, especially as users grieve "lost" chatbot companions after model updates. It points to the human cost, as well as the opportunity, of this transformation.