The parade of peacocks

To best understand the “voice” of Davos, it’s now best to focus on what is left unsaid.

Author

Malcolm Frank, CEO
January 27, 2026

The parade of peacocks

What conclusions can be drawn from the latest pilgrimage to the Magic Mountain and the spectacle that is Davos?  Watching from afar, I found myself grateful to be a mere spectator this year, spared from the Alpine frost and the hot air (particularly the political variety).

For the veteran observer, on the business front the WEF has shifted noticeably. What was once a deal-making bonanza has stiffened into a gallery of expensive PR.  It isn’t a marketplace anymore; it’s a showroom, with narratives meticulously sculpted by spin doctors from Manhattan and Mayfair.

To best understand the “voice” of Davos, it’s now best to focus on what is left unsaid. That’s where the signal is. When it comes to the AI economy, three points stood out last week:

  • The Application Gap: Killer use cases remain elusive. CEOs offered grand promises of "transformation," yet notably failed to point to specific, scalable implementations. The integration of AI into the mundane machinery of corporate profitability is, as yet, conspicuously absent.

  • The Labor Disconnect: Big Tech CEOs argue AI is a wash for the workforce, yet current roles are evaporating while future ones remain speculative. The sector is glossing over the immediate economic pain with theoretical optimism.

  • The CAPEX Flywheel: Perhaps most concerning is the circular nature of the current boom. We are witnessing a massive infrastructure build-out driven by insular transactions between chipmakers, hyperscalers, and foundational models. Yet, referencing the lack of concrete use cases, they appear to be constructing a digital superhighway at enormous expense toward a destination that has not yet been defined.

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