Artificial intelligence emerged as the dominant theme at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, overshadowing even high-profile attendees like Donald Trump and David Beckham. Business Insider journalists on the ground captured critical insights about AI’s trajectory and its profound implications for the global workforce and economy.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff sparked debate by asking whether AI is a “basic human right” during a star-studded panel featuring IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva, Al Gore, will.i.am, and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio. This question epitomized the polarized discourse surrounding AI—some view it as a universal good, while others see it as an existential threat. Benioff made a striking prediction: this generation of CEOs will be the last to manage “exclusively human workforces.” He emphasized that AI agents will work as full-time workers alongside humans, not merely as productivity tools.
The conference introduced a new term circulating among attendees: FOBO—fear of becoming obsolete. This anxiety reflects growing concerns about AI’s rapid advancement and its impact on employment. Indeed CEO Chris Hyams shared findings from a comprehensive study analyzing 50 million jobs and 2,800 distinct skills. The research revealed that currently, zero jobs exist where AI can perform 100% of required skills, but professions like finance, software development, and radiology face the highest risk of disruption. Conversely, jobs in childcare and driving remain relatively protected.
A critical skills gap emerged as a central concern, with AI technology developing faster than employees can upskill. Infosys CTO Rafee Tarafdar highlighted their success with in-house learning platforms, where employees average 30 minutes daily on skill development. Ravin Jesuthasan from Mercer emphasized that curiosity and learning agility are baseline requirements for workers to remain relevant in an AI-driven economy.
Poolside CTO Eiso Kant warned that AI represents an unprecedented shift: “We have never in history displaced jobs of people who were today considered the most well-paid.” This challenges conventional wisdom like “learn to code,” as even high-paid software engineers may face displacement.
Business leaders expressed optimism about seeing tangible ROI from AI investments in 2025, with AI agents expected to play a pivotal role. The consensus suggests that while implementation challenges exist—including paralysis from too many vendor options and high costs—transformative change is inevitable and imminent.
Key Quotes
Is AI a basic human right?
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff posed this provocative question during a high-profile Davos panel, encapsulating the polarized debate about whether AI represents a universal good or a threat to humanity. The question, asked at an exclusive lunch with global luminaries, highlights how AI discourse has evolved from technical discussions to fundamental questions about human rights and access.
This current generation of CEOs will be the last to manage exclusively human workforces.
Marc Benioff’s stark prediction signals a fundamental shift in how business leaders view AI—not as productivity tools but as autonomous agents that will work alongside humans. This perspective suggests organizations must reimagine management structures, performance metrics, and workplace dynamics to accommodate hybrid human-AI teams.
We have never in history displaced jobs of people who were today considered the most well-paid.
Eiso Kant, CTO of Poolside, highlighted the unprecedented nature of AI’s labor market impact. Unlike previous technological disruptions that primarily affected manual labor, AI threatens high-skilled, well-compensated knowledge workers—software engineers, financial analysts, and medical professionals—representing a historic reversal in automation patterns.
I think that curiosity and learning agility are probably the two baseline requirements.
Ravin Jesuthasan, global leader for transformation services at Mercer, emphasized that while companies can provide learning resources, individual motivation determines who thrives in an AI-driven workplace. This places responsibility on workers to proactively upskill, making personal initiative as important as institutional support in navigating workforce transformation.
Our Take
The Davos 2025 discussions reveal that AI has moved decisively from promise to practice, with business leaders now focused on implementation challenges and ROI rather than theoretical potential. The emergence of FOBO—fear of becoming obsolete—as conference vernacular demonstrates that AI anxiety has permeated even the world’s most powerful business elite.
Most striking is the inversion of traditional automation patterns. Software engineers, once considered automation-proof, now face displacement risks comparable to manufacturing workers in previous decades. This challenges fundamental assumptions about education, career planning, and economic mobility.
The skills gap represents the critical bottleneck. Technology is advancing faster than human adaptation, creating a dangerous lag that could leave millions of workers behind. Companies emphasizing continuous learning and employees embracing curiosity-driven development will separate winners from losers in this transition. The question isn’t whether AI transformation happens, but who successfully navigates it.
Why This Matters
This coverage from Davos 2025 signals that AI has reached a critical inflection point, moving from experimental technology to core business infrastructure. The shift from viewing AI as a tool to treating it as workforce members fundamentally changes organizational planning, labor economics, and corporate strategy.
The threat to high-skilled, well-compensated jobs represents an unprecedented economic disruption. Unlike previous technological revolutions that primarily affected manual labor, AI’s impact on knowledge workers—software developers, financial analysts, radiologists—challenges assumptions about education and career security. The “learn to code” advice that dominated the past decade may already be obsolete.
The skills gap identified at Davos creates both crisis and opportunity. Companies investing in continuous learning platforms and employees embracing curiosity-driven upskilling will gain competitive advantages. However, those who fail to adapt face genuine obsolescence—hence the emergence of FOBO as a defining anxiety of our era.
The expectation of measurable ROI in 2025 suggests AI is transitioning from hype to practical value creation, which will accelerate adoption across industries and intensify workforce transformation pressures.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/davos-world-economic-forum-ai-donald-trump-economy-2025-1