#Davos2026 LIVE | Ursula von der Leyen On Cooperation In A Contested World

And are we going to replay the same pattern? Early gains are flowing to the owners of models, owners of data, and owners of infrastructure. The open question: what happens to everyone else? If AI does to white-collar work what globalization did to blue-collar workers, we need to confront that today directly. It is not about the future — the future is now. Not with abstractions about the jobs of tomorrow, but with a credible plan for broad participation in these gains. This is going to be the test. Capitalism can evolve to turn more people into owners of growth instead of spectators watching it happen. And that kind of change is truly hard, especially in a world of competing ideologies and assumptions about how the system should work. Which brings me to the second way Davos can change: who gets invited to these conversations. This forum cannot be an echo chamber, and we should want panels where everyone doesn't always agree. We need panels where we can have true conversations — maybe some overt disagreements — but through that we can have a deeper conversation and maybe deeper understanding of each other's views. You can already see the shift in who is here this year. That doesn't mean the goal is for everyone to leave convinced that they're right. The objective over the week is not agreement. It's understanding. It's sitting with people who disagree with you, taking their arguments seriously, their viewpoints seriously, and being willing to admit they might be right or they might have something that helps you evolve your opinions. There's a deeper challenge. Many of the people most affected by what we talk about here will never come to this conference. That's a central tension of this forum. Davos is an elite gathering trying to shape a world that belongs to everyone. That is why this year's theme is the spirit of dialogue, because dialogue is the only way a room like this can earn the legitimacy to shape ideas for people who aren't in the room. The world needs more good-faith conversations with people who don't typically talk to one another. I think most people, at least intellectually, know that finding common ground with a stranger is a hopeful thing. It restores your faith in humanity a bit. But how often does it actually happen? Dialogue, especially the listening half of dialogue, is what the World Economic Forum needs going forward. We need more of it. For 56 years, the World Economic Forum has been synonymous with Davos. But you should also see the World Economic Forum start doing something new: showing up and listening in places where the modern world is actually being built — places like Detroit and Dublin, or cities like Jakarta or Buenos Aires. We need the mountain to visit everyone, to be a part of everyone's life. So in fact that's why I agreed to take on this role after Klaus Schwab, whose more than a half-century of work together with an extraordinary dedicated group at the World Economic Forum made this gathering possible. There was an opportunity to make this forum more transparent, and I thought this was the best way to rebuild trust — when people can see in the room the debates, the participation, and the conversations, and maybe gain a lot more understanding. That approach may fail in other gatherings, but this one — it's going to work. Because for all the caricatures of this forum, the people who come here aren't here to congratulate themselves, aren't here to pat themselves on the back. They're not here to protect their own comforts. They're here for something bigger than themselves, bigger than their organizations. I believe economic progress should be shared. All of us at the forum believe that economic success should be shared, and we believe institutions like the World Economic Forum still matter in making things happen. So let's remember this during the week: real conversations. Let us all commit to listen, to learn, to understand. And if we could all do that, we will all be better for that. Thank you. And now, my co-chair.

Thank you, Larry, for that very powerful message at the opening of our annual meeting. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce our other co-chair, Andre Hoffmann. I would also like to use this opportunity to thank both of the co-chairs for their leadership during the last three-quarters of a year. Andre Hoffmann — many of you know Andre — he's our co-chair, but also the Vice Chairman of Roche. So, Andre, the floor is yours.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, distinguished Forum partners, ladies and gentlemen, it is now also my turn to welcome you here in this meeting placed under the spirit of dialogue. At a time when science confirms that humanity has already transgressed seven of the nine planetary boundaries, as highlighted in a planetary health check in September 2025 from the Potsdam Institute, the challenge before us is no longer one of just awareness but of action — making the need for collective responsibility, decisive leadership, and meaningful dialogue more urgent than ever. As Larry just underlined, for over half a century, leaders from across the globe have regularly gathered here in Davos, Switzerland, to confront the defining challenges of our time. This was done as a community bound by shared responsibility for our collective future. This tradition, born from the conviction that the great questions facing humanity demand dialogue across differences, has never been more vital than it is today. At a moment when the world confronts profound questions about growth, innovation, technological transformation, and our planet's future — at a moment where we need spaces where diverse voices can be heard, where we need just and safe places to examine complexity from multiple perspectives so that we gain the insights we desperately need — this is why the World Economic Forum has existed for 56 years. It is the international organization for public-private cooperation, a space where government, businesses, and civil society come together and generate the insights that emerge when different worldviews actively illuminate one another. In a world that feels increasingly divisive, progress depends on our ability to listen and engage across differences. This is why our gathering takes place here in Switzerland, a nation whose tradition and commitment to dialogue reflects the very spirit we seek to embody. Davos has over so many years almost become a synonym for the World Economic Forum. It is therefore a particular pleasure for me to welcome the President of the Swiss Confederation as the opening speaker here.