AI mania takes over Davos as the world’s biggest firms tout their offerings

The Davos Promenade in Switzerland is the focal point of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss ski town.

Some of the world’s biggest companies take over cafes, shops and restaurants and build temporary meeting and event spaces for the week — and their branding often gives away what’s top of mind for business leaders.

It’s no surprise, then, that artificial intelligence dominated the space this year, given the boom in the technology, which has propelled firms to capitalize on AI interest — especially from businesses.

A poll from consultancy Accenture out on Monday revealed that 58% of execs expect generative AI solutions to be adopted at scale within the organization in 2025, up from just 37% in 2024. Generative AI is the technology that underpins applications like ChatGPT.

Several companies from Intel to Salesforce and Workday displayed AI-linked branding on the front of their spaces.

Showing on the promenade can often follow what’s happening in markets, with crypto companies have been out in force in the past. The explosion of AI branding kicked off at Davos in 2024, pushing aside crypto, at a time when ChatGPT was still gaining in popularity, while Nvidia’s stock continued to rally. Nvidia, whose chip systems are used to train huge AI models, is seen as a benchmark for investor appetite in artificial intelligence.

Advances in AI, as well as the dangers of rapidly-advancing systems, will be discussed during this year’s WEF. Artificial general intelligence — or AGI, describing AI systems that are smarter than humans — will be in focus, as well as current advances with AI agents.