Six months on from attending January’s annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos, Switzerland, I’d sum it up like this: a bit of a sensory overload, but well worth it. Despite the jetlag, endless panels and daily foot traffic equivalent to a mid-sized marathon, WEF25 still delivered solid insights into the trends shaping 2025. Now, as we reach the midpoint of 2025, it’s a good moment to reflect on where progress has been made — and where challenges remain.
Here’s a recap of some of my key takeaways from the event — aside from bumping into David Beckham, who was present at WEF25 to collect his Crystal Award, which was certainly a highlight! I’ll also ask: what can we learn from these insights at the midpoint of 2025?
Geopolitics and global tech
The theme, “Collaboration in the intelligent age”, wasn’t just branding — it reflected a real sense of urgency. Leaders across sectors seemed to agree: global shifts require collective, tech-enabled action.
But the elephant in the room? The Trump administration. Much of the hallway buzz focused on potential ripple effects for the European Union (EU) and China. Now, the EU and United States reached an agreement to avoid further escalating tariff tensions. Another response we’ve seen: China accelerated its domestic chip production.
Despite these tensions, cooperation continues in areas like climate tech and hydrogen infrastructure. Still, the uneasy triangle between Washington, Brussels and Beijing remains defined by both competition and collaboration, and a new era of deal-making more on a bilateral than global level.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it well in January: “The world is changing and so must we.” That set the tone. Leaders are realistic about the urgency — and complexity — of what lies ahead. One quote that stuck with me: “We must impact what we can impact.” A good reminder in a volatile geopolitical landscape.
AI’s Achilles heel
Artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and biotechnology are reshaping industries — but without clean, structured data, even the most powerful AI systems won’t deliver. As Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS) put it: many AI projects fail due to disorganized, unlabeled or undigitized data.
At COPA-DATA, as experts in industrial automation, we see this all the time. Legacy systems don’t transform themselves — and the last mile of extracting usable data is both hard and essential. There are no shortcuts.
Do you like a good read about this topic, check out our latest customer magazine Information Unlimited about “The World of Data”.
As of May 2025, nearly half of enterprise AI projects are delayed or failing, largely due to poor data readiness — caused by fragmentation, outdated sources and weak model performance. A Fivetran survey confirms the struggle.
There is progress, though. Companies like Microsoft and AWS are expanding DataOps offerings — a set of practices that apply DevOps principles to data management — to address the readiness gap.
Meanwhile, biotech is stepping out of the lab and into real-world impact — from healthcare to agri-tech to climate resilience. In just six months, CRISPR (a gene-editing technology that enables targeted modifications to DNA) trials have advanced crop resilience, and pharmaceutical companies like GSK have taken groundbreaking therapeutics — including a new liver disease treatment — into late-stage trials. It’s not hype — it’s happening.
Decarbonization: From buzzword to business imperative
One standout moment which still echoes today in my mind came from Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who called this the “Age of electricity.” Demand is growing six times faster than overall energy production. But the real bottleneck? The grid.
A June IEA report confirmed that electricity use continues to outpace total energy demand, warning that underinvestment in the grid poses a major global risk.
Since WEF25, the EU has launched major initiatives to modernize grids and drive industrial decarbonization — the Clean Industrial Deal channels over €100 billion, including €1.5 billion for grid component manufacturing, and an Affordable Energy Action Plan to cut costs and streamline permitting.
The package also includes a European grids initiative to de-risk cross-border projects and boost digitalization and flexibility. An accompanying Action Plan for Grids outlines steps for better planning, permitting and financing. The European Parliament backs these moves, calling for tighter alignment between national grid plans and EU decarbonization goals.
At COPA-DATA, we’re focused on making power generation, distribution and consumption smarter, more flexible and more efficient. There’s no decarbonization without digitalization — and as grid resilience becomes critical, we’re investing further to meet that need for a “Twin Transition”.
Innovation means fixing what’s broken
At WEF25, innovation wasn’t just about what’s next — it was about fixing what’s broken. The most exciting developments? Intelligent systems that bridge the gap between old and new. Tools that extract meaningful data from legacy systems and feed it into real-time decision-making — retro-fit at its best.
A final thought on trust and collaboration
Let’s be clear: COPA-DATA doesn’t come to Davos for champagne and selfies — though bumping into Beckham was a nice perk. We’re there because we’ve earned our place as a trusted Global Innovator — and that comes with responsibility. So, what can we take away from Davos now that we’ve reached the midpoint of 2025?
The conversations at WEF25 reaffirmed a truth we already know: digitalization is no longer optional. It’s a survival strategy — especially in sectors like energy, water and manufacturing. We’re doubling down on supporting our partners in their net-zero and digital transformation efforts which means – to keep it very simple – their existing equipment must become more effective, productive and efficient.
Of course, the WEF isn’t above criticism — someone even emailed me, questioning my integrity for attending. To that person: thank you. Trust isn’t granted by title or attendance list; it’s earned through action. And we really want to act and make an impact in the right direction.
We’re not in Davos as Austrian delegates, but as individuals and as a company committed to helping others digitalize, automatize, decarbonize and build a smarter, more sustainable future. And no, we’re not part of any dark plot — unless the dark side now includes digital twins and smart grid analytics. If so, our Jedi power is collaboration.
Together with our partners and customers, we’re working to ensure that nobody is left behind in the digital transition. Especially not the millions of SMEs out there who really want to transform their businesses. Through continued innovation and cooperation, we hope that WEF26 will bring real progress in overcoming the toughest challenges. No WEF, no problem? Maybe. But no collaboration? That would be a real problem.
Here's to making real progress — together.
