Davos 2026 Debrief: Beyond the Trump Factor

Davos 2026 was undeniably dominated by geopolitical issues. The presence of President Trump and his daily news-making loomed large, impacting governments as they sought to position, navigate and negotiate. For businesses, it spotlighted the need to reevaluate their positioning in a world where geopolitical instability is now the norm.

Beyond the Trump factor, this year’s meeting crystallised three critical themes for communicators: Intelligence, Engagement and AI.

First, the increasing importance of intelligence in navigating this volatile geopolitical landscape cannot be overstated. Economic uncertainty is reshaping the conversation around a company’s “license to operate.”

Discussions at Davos repeatedly stressed the need for communications and corporate affairs teams to harness actionable intelligence – intelligence that identifies what’s real versus fake, unpacks the drivers of misinformation and maps the key narratives and influencers shaping the discourse. The value lies not just in understanding the current environment but in predicting what’s next: spotting weak signals and making sense of a fractured media ecosystem to inform strategies on narrative, engagement and risk mitigation. While the world has become more complex, the good news is that today’s AI-powered tools offer unprecedented capabilities to navigate and decode this complexity.

The second theme centred on engagement and the challenge of connecting with increasingly fragmented and polarised audiences. Companies must define their specific value and engage on a hyperlocal level across consumers, communities or governments. The intersection of business and politics, as well as business and culture, is becoming ever sharper, requiring companies to operate with greater cultural and geopolitical sensitivity. In this fractured environment, engagement strategies need to be nuanced, authentic and rooted in local relevance to build trust and sustain impact.

Finally, it is difficult to leave Davos without your head swirling around AI topics. For communications leaders, the most pressing topic isn’t just the technology itself but the human capital transformation and how we can help companies manage through this enormous change. While leaders of AI companies, economists and policy-makers debated the long-term impact on the labour market, the biggest need today is how to drive change management to adapt AI across organisations. The role for communications leaders in this area is enormous.

The good news is that communications leaders are better equipped to address many of these challenges. Research from Weber Advisory and Gravity Research and shared at WEF, finds that over 90 per cent of communications and corporate affairs officers now say their function is at least "somewhat equipped" to keep pace with rapid change, with roughly half reporting high confidence in addressing areas including stakeholder activism, managing geopolitical risks and addressing regulatory pressures.

When it comes to AI, communicators are ahead of most enterprise functions on practical AI adoption. However, the next step is doing more as strategic counsellors for the business transformation.

The role of communications and corporate affairs leaders in shaping the external environment and protecting license to operate is more important than ever. The discussions in Davos reinforced the critical importance of engagement, intelligence and adaptability highlighting the vital role communicators play in navigating these intersections with clarity and purpose.