Under the theme Innovating at Scale at the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos”, leaders and entrepreneurs explored how technology can be harnessed as a strategic opportunity – and how its benefits can be shared widely and contribute to resilient growth.
With more than 1 800 delegates, and across more than 200 sessions, the meeting underscored the urgency of value creation with leaders exploring how technological breakthroughs can translate into economic value and broader progress for all.
Sessions focused on the trends shaping Asian economies and China’s economic outlook, as well as the critical role of entrepreneurship, the energy transition, and digital transformation in building more sustainable economic systems.
Participants examined how advances in AI, energy systems and natural capital are reshaping competitiveness, while discussions on jobs and skills focused on pathways to the next billion jobs and the structural transformation of work in an AI-driven economy.
Innovators were central to the meeting, with over 200 leaders from the Forum’s innovator communities – including Technology Pioneers and a record number of unicorns – focused on moving emerging technologies from experimentation to deployment across industries.
“Technological progress is one of the most powerful tools for addressing the existential challenges of a growing global population,” says André Hoffmann, co-chair of the World Economic Forum. “Leaders must recognise that the most important boundary is not technological, but planetary. Innovation only has value if it serves humanity and preserves the conditions that make life possible in the first place.”
Larry Fink, co-chair at the WEF, adds: “Technology is creating new opportunities for growth across industries and economies. Realising that potential will depend on scaling innovation in ways that drive productivity, investment, and broader prosperity.”
Alois Zwinggi, president and CEO of the WEF, says the Dalian meeting focused on practical solutions that deliver growth for all.
“The next phase of innovation is about closing the gap between technological potential and real-world economic impact, to translate breakthroughs into tangible progress for industry and people,” he says. “Innovating at scale requires partnership across a range of sectors including government, business, and academia.”
The meeting focused on five key questions: how to build prosperity amid shifting geoeconomic and industrial realities; how to understand the next phase of China’s economic trajectory; how to harness technology for outcomes in the real economy; how to ensure growth creates jobs and opportunities for the next generation; and how to align energy and climate systems to drive competitiveness.
How can we build prosperity amid shifting geoeconomic and industrial realities?
Recent developments in the Middle East sent a shock through energy markets and created uncertainty about global growth, jobs and security. Governments are taking a more active role in industries deemed critical for economic and security reasons. Against this backdrop, discussions on trade, investment, US-China relations and regional cooperation underscored the importance of preserving the collaboration that underpins long-term resilience and prosperity.
Participants examined the changing shape of global trade, as the system in place for the last century morphs.
They highlighted the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade agreements – termed “minilateralism” – as a positive development in the face of a difficult global trade context. They stressed the importance of the US-China relationship to the global economy, with particular emphasis on their role shaping global trade and prosperity. They also emphasised the potential each has for spreading prosperity beyond their borders.
Leaders also spoke of the role of regional platforms including APEC and ASEAN in strengthening economic integration and policy coordination in key areas such as the digital economy.
“We need to be more ambitions about how far growth can go and more honest about the hard decisions and joint efforts that need to be made to get there,” says Mirek Dušek, MD, World Economic Forum.
How can we understand the next phase of China’s economic trajectory?
China is expected to account for over a quarter of global real GDP growth in 2026, making its economic trajectory a key driver for global markets and supply chains. Overall, Asia, as the economic engine of the world, is projected to deliver over half of global GDP growth in 2026.
In a special address, Chinese premier Li Qiang set out China’s innovation-driven vision for growth, emphasising that new technologies should benefit the world and that this can be achieved through cooperation and collaboration.
Participants agreed that China’s economic trajectory will be fuelled by technologies like AI, electric vehicles and renewable energy – with the country’s natural resources, particularly critical materials, providing a strong foundation for growth.
Infrastructure projects like China’s Belt and Road Initiative are helping other economies, particularly in the developing world, share in the value Chinese growth creates, participants said.
“Asia’s next phase of development is about translating innovative solutions to economic and societal value,” says Gim Huay Neo, MD of the WEF. “China’s industrial transformation, human-led AI and entrepreneurial dynamism demonstrate that scaling innovation requires not only technology, but also the right ecosystem of policy, capital, talent and partnerships to drive jobs and shared prosperity.”
How can technology be harnessed for outcomes in the real economy?
Despite record investment in AI, quantum computing and biotechnology, productivity growth across most economies remains sluggish – highlighting a widening gap between technological potential and economic outcomes.
To be truly transformational, the benefits of technological progress must be widely shared and contribute to broad-based resilient growth. Adoption at scale is needed to turn innovation into tangible progress for industry and people, meaning that the next phase of innovation is as much about accelerating the diffusion of emerging technologies as it is about generating new breakthroughs.
Participants said that the implementation of technology like AI is quickly becoming a growth differentiator.
They pointed to the huge progress that entrepreneurs in this space have already made, saying that the primary bottleneck to deep economic impact is no longer innovation, but readiness. This phase, they say, holds significant potential – for example, across drug development, agriculture, and novel uses of existing technologies – but they stress that collaboration and partnership are key to ensuring the economic benefits of these advances are shared as widely as possible.
“You can put all the technology you want in your stack, but unless you develop your people, it is wasted,” says Padraig McDonnell, president and CEO of Agilent. “Technology doesn’t enable itself; it enables people in the factory to do a better job.”
How can growth create jobs and opportunities for the next generation?
An estimated 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, highlighting the scale of the workforce transition ahead.
Meeting this challenge will require investment in the enabling infrastructure, education, skills development, and regulatory environments that allow entrepreneurship to flourish, new industries to emerge, and jobs to be created.
Leaders explored how emerging technologies can drive the development of new industries, focusing on how innovation can accelerate industrial growth and create new markets, enabling economies to diversify, move up value chains and unlock new sources of growth. Particular attention was given to the capabilities and partnerships needed to seize these opportunities at scale.
Technology’s potential to enrich and disrupt the global jobs market was a core theme.
Participants spoke of the transformative potential of innovations like AI – but emphasised the need to prevent a “jobless growth”. Ensuring innovation comes hand in hand with job growth is achievable through broad investment, particularly in emerging economies, and by focusing on AI’s educational opportunities, participants said. Participants also reiterated the importance of gender parity throughout the design and implementation of new innovations to ensure their benefits are felt widely.
“Innovation truly boosts economies once it reaches people and improves their lives, work, income and health. The next billion jobs will be created by the economies that invest as much in education, skills and entrepreneurship as in technology itself,” says Saadia Zahidi, MD of the WEF.
How can we align energy and climate systems to drive a source of competitiveness?
The demand for cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy systems is intensifying – especially as populations and their energy needs grow, driven in part by technology’s energy requirements from data centres to AI infrastructure.
Climate, biodiversity and water considerations are increasingly informing strategies that strengthen resilience, enhance competitiveness and guide long-term investment.
Participants highlighted how energy shocks like that of the Strait of Hormuz underscore the vulnerabilities in the global energy system and that countries that master this transition stand to gain a significant competitive advantage. Investment in batteries, grid upgrades and other transition-related innovations were identified as growth and resilience multipliers.
“Industry decarbonisation and the protection of natural systems are no longer only environmental priorities – they are becoming economic and security imperatives,” says Sebastian Buckup, MD of the WEF. “This meeting has created important momentum to scale the technologies, infrastructure, finance and partnerships needed to move from ambition to implementation.”
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