A New AI Era: Top 10 Takeaways from Davos 2025

OMMAX founding partners Christiane Jauch and Dr. Stefan Sambol had the privilege of exchanging ideas with AI pioneers from leading organizations such as Salesforce, Google DeepMind, Siemens, Allianz, Bloom Energy, NEA, Fresenius Medical Care, ZEIT Verlagsgruppe, SAP, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and MIT professors.
Here are our top 10 insights from Davos:
1. The era of agentic AI
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declared that this is the last generation of CEOs managing human workforces. Over the next few months, we will witness a shift to AI agents created to take over complex tasks traditionally performed by humans. Unlike predictive or generative AI (Tool AI), these agentic AI systems can act autonomously, making decisions and executing complex tasks without human input.
In retail, AI agents could handle real-time customer orders, check stock levels, coordinate shipping, and confirm actions without human control. In the healthcare sector, they could also interact with patients, schedule appointments, and manage medication reminders. Companies embracing this rising »agent world« will unlock significant efficiency gains, improve competitiveness, and drive growth, especially in countries with high labor costs.
2. Jobs of the future
AI will revolutionize the job market. By 2030, 92 million jobs will disappear, but 170 million new profiles will emerge—particularly in AI, big data, machine learning, and environmental engineering. Agent-based AI will play a dual role: it will replace some human tasks while creating entirely new industries and business models centered around independent AI.
3. A Nobel Prize powered by AI
AI is driving groundbreaking scientific achievements. For example, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper's recent Nobel Prize-winning work in Chemistry leveraged AlphaFold to predict protein properties. Similarly, Google DeepMind's advanced weather forecasting demonstrates AI's potential to optimize renewable energy usage and address global challenges in ways that were unimaginable just two years ago.
4. Cybersecurity in supply chains
Supply chain complexity remains a significant cybersecurity challenge, with 54% of large organizations citing it as a top concern (see Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025). Limited visibility into suppliers' security practices increases the risk of cyberattacks spreading across interconnected ecosystems, creating threats that can substantially impact business operations.
5. The rise of AGI
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is no longer a distant concept. Tech leaders believe AGI could soon surpass human control, raising massive ethical and safety concerns. To mitigate the risks, scalable control systems must evolve alongside AGI development. Interestingly, Tool AI might be suitable for monitoring and regulating AGI, although this theoretical concept still needs further evaluation and time.
6. U.S. to invest $500 billion in AI
The U.S. is further pushing the global AI race with massive investments. In 2025, Microsoft allocated $80 billion to AI development, while the recently announced "Stargate" initiative by the U.S. government—backed by Oracle, Softbank, and OpenAI—plans to build 20 new data centers, with a total investment volume of $500 billion. It is by far the most significant investment ever made in AI and clearly shows the significance of this technology for businesses and society.
7. Germany’s innovation challenges
Despite its rich history of innovations, Germany currently faces massive hurdles in translating AI-related developments into practical applications with real impact. High taxes, energy costs, and excessive regulations limit investments and suppress entrepreneurial growth. Germany must foster an environment supporting innovation and entrepreneurship to remain competitive in this global race, or it will certainly get left behind.
8. DeepSeek sparks global competition
China's new open-source large language model, DeepSeek, is emerging as a strong competitor to OpenAI and other Western companies. Its impressive performance underscores the intensifying global AI race between the U.S. and China, with European players struggling to keep pace. Even if the story about minimal resources for creating DeepSeek still needs to be confirmed independently, the outstanding results and the open development approach create shockwaves among tech companies.
9. The technical foundations for AI
Data is the new gold—this is not just a story, as AI's potential can only be unlocked with a strong technical foundation, including scalable infrastructure and high-quality, accessible data. However, according to many experts in Davos, fewer than 10% of European companies meet these requirements due to technical debt, outdated systems, fragmented data, or insufficient investment. Building a secure, compliant, and modern infrastructure is essential for broader AI adoption. It is evident that now is the time to eliminate legacy systems and invest in state-of-the-art data infrastructure to maintain competitiveness.
10. AI is nothing without leadership
The successful implementation of AI depends as much on leadership as on technology. C-level executives must be able to establish an AI-driven culture by experimenting, launching pilot projects, and iterating based on results. As Satya Nadella recently said: "You don't get fit by watching others go to the gym — you have to go yourself."
OMMAX – Building Digital Leaders is one of Europe's fastest-growing digital strategy consultancies specializing in Digital, Tech, Data, and AI. We provide end-to-end consulting and implementation services across industries, enabling our clients to achieve scalable growth and operational efficiency. Do you want to learn how to maximize ROI on technology, data & AI projects? Get in touch with Christiane and Stefan through the form below.
Images by iStock and Sandra Blaser / World Economic Forum, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Available here.
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