Kevin Chung

2024 in Davos was all about generative AI. 4 days, -6°C, average 4 hours of sleep, 96k steps.

Multiple beanie selfies because a California native can't handle the cold.

I came into Switzerland with the same amount of prep I do before watching a Marvel movie... read some non-spoilers that results in more questions than answers. Do I really need thermals? Is it true there's a secret society? How likely is it I'll see will.i.am?

I'd describe the World Economic Forum, with a mission of "improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas", as controlled insanity. Being a social introvert, I came into the week concerned about the idea having to do meeting after meeting, drinks, nightcaps, and so on for 4 days straight. The common tip from Davos veterans was embrace the serendipity .

WEF is definitely a great place to get business done. It's astounding that a small town in the Swiss Alps can accommodate and attract all the top global leaders for a week-long, intense meeting marathon. Every restaurant, bookstore, ski shop and open inch along the Promenade is closed down and transformed by sponsoring companies into their own lounge, conference room, or Haus. Then 4 days later it needs to be put back as it once was ( kudos to the creative and design teams that put on this type of show ).

Accenture really showed up in a big way. Over 20 live sessions hosted by their top executives in an intimate, workshop-style setting. The topics were highly focused: generative AI for sales & marketing, generative AI for life sciences, generative AI for banking, generative AI for energy, etc. And the message was clear, it's time to embrace generative AI in your business to drive value creation.

Hanging with the all-star cast at Accenture: Jill Kramer, Lan Guan, David Droga, and Baiju Shah. "Frontiers of AGI" gave generative AI creators a chance to really show off what we can do with this new technology. Hosted by AGI House , Christian Umbach , and SwissCognitive | AI Ventures, Advisory & Research , we did a lightning round of 7 demos to a packed house in the Icon Grandhotel Belvédère.

During my free time, I could pick from a menu that had 100s of interesting live sessions on a broad range of topics. I chose to do something unrelated to generative AI and focused on using technology for social good. UpLink, an open innovation platform of the WEF, is a collab with Salesforce and Deloitte to enable early-stage entrepreneurs the tools to drive positive systemic change for people and planet.

Always great to chat and talk shop with Paul Clemmons, one of the key contributors of UpLink Serendipity was a big part of the Davos experience. While sitting at the Kebab Bar for a late night snack, I struck up a conversation with Andrew Funk . He shared his team's effort to raise awareness and empower 150 million people made of potential out of homelessness by walking 150 kilometers from Zurich to Davos #thegreatwalk.

Normally I'd like to call it an early night, but something about Davos makes you want to test your luck on what else could happen. So I decided to stop by the India Reception hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Security was a bit heavier than normal with the special guests in attendance. Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder of WEF, was on hand and joined by prestigious Indian leaders to share their joint vision and collaboration with an energetic crowd.

While at Davos, the WEF had the official launch of the AI Governance Alliance Briefing Paper Series , which I was able to participate. I am honored to be a part of a coalition of more than 250 leaders from business, government, academia and civil society committed to responsible AI development and innovation while upholding ethical considerations at every stage of the AI value chain, from development to application and governance.

In having personal connections with hundreds of people over the course of 4 days, LinkedIn turned out to be my best Davos compass. Once a conversation was done, we scanned QR codes to exchange LinkedIn details... no more physical business cards. It was fun to strike up a random conversation with strangers, and then being able to find out what they do and who else you know in common. Thank you Nikhita Arora , Tom Pepper and Daniel Shapero for such a great product, and for the great conversation today.

Lastly, Davos is also about the extravagant parties. And Salesforce definitely knows how to throw a great nightcap. The Times party with LT Smooth was off the hook, and....

I found him!

Kevin Chung

Singapore, Singapore 6K followers 500+ connections

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