Good morning. The ambiance right here on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos is all about nervous pleasure because the Trump administration descends on the usually quaint however presently chaotic ski city within the Alps.
President Donald Trump will probably be making remarks only a couple hours from now, and Fortune will probably be reporting reside from USA Home on the primary promenade, with insights from authorities officers and chief executives throughout and instantly following the president’s dialog. Control our livestream, right here https://fortune.com/2026/01/21/ceos-davos-buy-into-the-agentic-ai-hype/.
Elsewhere round city, CEOs are setting their agendas for the yr. Right here’s what’s prime of thoughts for a couple of of them:
It will really be the yr of agentic AI. The primary time I heard the time period “agentic AI” was at Davos final yr. For all of the hype round it, does the typical CEO actually know what it’s or methods to deploy it? And is AI adequate but for brokers to switch and even considerably help human staff? The reply seems to be sure. Google Gemini head Demis Hassabis advised me that Gemini 3 achieved some milestones that permit agentic AI to really proliferate when it comes to its capabilities. ServiceNow CEO Invoice McDermott can also be an emphatic “yes,” and says he’s already utilizing it to do issues like automate his IT division (with out doing layoffs, he stresses; he says he has repurposed staff as a substitute). He thinks different CEOs are able to do the identical.
Prepare for Google glasses—for actual, this time. A decade in the past, Google launched its Google Glass eyewear to widespread mockery. Hassabis thinks the timing was simply off; on the time there was no tremendous app to go on the platform. AI has modified that, and Hassabis is bullish on Gemini glasses being the long run kind for shopper AI. Meta is betting the identical factor, and OpenAI can also be reportedly contemplating a super-device, however it doesn’t look like both can match Gemini’s capabilities any time quickly.
There’s synthetic intelligence, and now there’s additionally “energy intelligence.” Schneider Electrical CEO Olivier Blum says that nailing power intelligence is his mission this yr. By that he means he desires to seize knowledge from varied power sources right into a single “data cube,” filter it, and use agentic AI so clients can handle it multi functional place to seek out alternatives to save lots of energy and cash. “Our job is to make sure we go to the next level of energy technology to make energy more intelligent,” he advised me yesterday. If he can obtain it, he sees a 7%-10% annual development alternative forward.
Prime information
The disaster CEOs can’t ignore
The annual Edelman Belief Barometer, revealed at Davos yearly, exhibits an “insular” mindset permeating the enterprise world, with 70% of respondents not eager to speak to, work for, and even be in the identical area with anybody with a distinct world view. Richard Edelman says CEOs should undertake a way of urgency in addressing the disaster; they should sense that “time is running out.”
The Fortune 2026 World’s Most Admired Firms checklist
Fortune printed the 2026 World’s Most Admired Firms this week, an annual rating in collaboration with Korn Ferry that surveys executives, administrators, and analysts throughout a spread of industries. Apple made the highest of the checklist amongst leaders in all industries for the nineteenth yr in a row—learn who else made the reduce.
Netflix co-CEOs increase the case for the Warner Bros. deal
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters praised the streaming firm’s deliberate acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery throughout its earnings name on Tuesday, promoting the deal as a lift to its streaming enterprise and a manufacturing increase for America. Traders, nevertheless, stay anxious that the deal will push Netflix away from its core enterprise, and the inventory dropped virtually 5% after hours.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are up 0.19% this morning. The final session closed down 2.06%. STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.41% in early buying and selling. The U.Ok.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.02% in early buying and selling. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.41%. China’s CSI 300 was up o.09%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 0.49%. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.3%%. Bitcoin was at $89K.
Across the watercooler
What Walmart’s CEO succession reveals in regards to the smartest time to exit by Ruth Umoh
Individuals are paying practically all the tariff burden as worldwide exports die down, research finds by Jacqueline Munis
The 9 most disruptive offers of Trump’s first yr again within the White Home by Geoff Colvin
Gen Z’s nostalgia for ‘2016 vibes’ reveals one thing deeper: a protest towards the world and economic system they inherited by Nick Lichtenberg and Eva Roytburg
CEO Every day is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams, Claire Zillman and Lee Clifford.
