I spent a week with tech CEOs. Here’s what they’re talking about

DAVOS, Switzerland — I spent a week with technology executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos talking about their priorities for the year ahead and the big themes they see shaping investor sentiment.

Just like last year, AI dominated the conference. But this year, the discussion has moved beyond AI models and which chatbots are better, to how companies are adopting this technology and what developments are planned for the future.

All of these could be key to the earnings and stock prices of the world’s largest technology companies.

Businesses will increase their adoption of AI this year, but the approach will be very different than in 2025. Many companies had pilot projects using AI, but none went live last year.

After that, companies started implementing AI. microsoftOpenAI, etc. There was a fear of missing out and FOMO, CEO Dowson Tong said. tencentCloud Group said in an interview with CNBC this week.

Instead, companies will become more selective about the types of AI they deploy.

“When I talk to customers this year, I think they’ve become more realistic. I think they’ve gotten past the FOMO stage,” Tong said. “And today, I think many of our customers are looking for something more specific.”

Raj Sharma, global managing partner for growth and innovation at EY, said companies need to rethink the entire process that can be performed with AI. “That’s when you’ll start to see the value,” Sharma said in an interview with CNBC.

This is one of the biggest buzzwords of 2025 and will continue to be front and center. Agent AI broadly refers to the concept of AI systems that can perform tasks on behalf of humans. The ultimate goal is to have sophisticated agents that operate autonomously with little user interaction.

Technology executives said agents are being deployed, but at varying degrees of scale and functionality. It also really depends on what industry you’re referring to. Some uses of agents within businesses run simple processes, while others run more sophisticated workflows.

“I don’t think these agents are autonomous. I don’t think we’re at the point where they can replace human employees,” said Urjan Sharka, CEO of startup Domyn.

The most bullish person on the technology was Prosus CEO Fabricio Broisi. He said Prosus currently has 30,000 active agents and could see agent-run companies within the next five years.

“I don’t think this is hype or hope,” Broisi said in an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy and me this week.

The impact of geopolitical change was the subject of many of the conversations I had this week.

“One of the things we’re not talking about in the AI ​​world, whether it’s going to be a big problem, a big deterrent or a big accelerator, is where the (geopolitical) problems are,” EY’s Sharma said.

China’s technological advances in areas such as AI and chips were also a topic of discussion. In an interview with Steve Kobach on CNBC’s new podcast “The Tech Downland,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said he believes China’s AI models are only a few months behind those in the United States and the West.

This year’s list of technology buzzwords is expected to include physical AI. The term refers to applications where AI takes physical form, from robotics to self-driving cars. My own experience at Davos highlighted how real this push is. One night at dinner, a robot was sitting at the table.

EY’s Sharma called physical AI the “next wave” and estimated that it could be five to six times the size of the agent AI market within five to six years.

Meanwhile, Sashin Ghazi, CEO of semiconductor design tools company Synopsys, said he initially expected physical AI to be “more than five years” away, but now it’s happening “much faster.”

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said AI robotics is a “once in a generation” opportunity for Europe, as the region boasts an “incredibly strong” industrial production base.

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