A big picture conversation with Eleanor Hawkins & Don McGuire

Hi from Switzerland everyone. I'm Axios's national security editor Dave Lawler. I'm here with our communication strategist and writer Ellaner Hawkins. Thanks for being with me here today.

Thank you.

So you've been to Davos before. Does anything feel different to you this week? The buzz in the air. How are the vibes different than in the past?

There's a lot more buzz this year than there was last year. I think the numbers also reflect that. I've seen that there are about a thousand CEOs here, which is more than ever before. There also is a lot of buzz in the community that I write for, which is the comms and corporate affairs community. And I was talking to somebody who had been coming here for 26 years. And he said this was the first year that he really felt like a principal, not support staff. And I think that's really interesting because what it tells me is that media companies, foreign nations, other corporations, they want to have meetings with these corporate affairs professionals who see across the whole company and maybe they don't get access to the CEO, but they've got access to somebody who is dealing with that intersection of policy and business, which is really what conversations at Davos are all about. So, it's very buzzy. I think it's going to get even buzzier towards the second half of the week as the Trump administration officials start to roll out. There already some here. And I think the conversation is going to shift a good bit. So, that's the other thing that I'm paying a lot of attention to is what is the messaging that's being frontloaded, aka what is the messaging that these CEOs and these companies really want to get out there because I think it's going to be quieter on that front post Trump speech. Nobody wants to comment on the politics that will inevitably come from that speech. And so you're seeing a lot of frontloading the conversation here around AI and whatever business priorities they have.

So more CEOs than ever, many obituaries have been written for Davos over the years and yet here we are. This does seem to be the biggest week they've ever had. For brands, for CEOs, what do you think keeps them coming back? Why are we all here still all these years after Davos started?

I think it's an opportunity to be part of the conversation. It's so hard to break through in this information landscape, right? So, it's an opportunity to be part of the conversation. It's also an opportunity to be in front of the right audience. So many folks are really trying to tailor their message to specific audiences, whether it's policy makers globally or the US policy makers that are here. Maybe their competitors are here and they want to keep up. Maybe they are trying to form strategic partnerships. We're hearing a lot about that. But what's really interesting to me is if you kind of walk the promenade, it feels like CES. There's so many tech companies here. There are so many software companies here. And I think that is also a big shift, right? It used to just be, you know, big banks, big financial institutions, a lot of consulting firms and it's shifting a bit in that way.

Interesting. And what about for you personally? You've been here a couple times. Do you have any tips and tricks? How do you try to make this week productive and stay sane amid all the craziness?

For me, I just know that I'm not going to sleep. I just accept that fact. So for me, it's all about staying hydrated, getting as much sleep as you can, but realizing it's not going to happen. And then also just finding time where you can to have the spontaneous conversations because I feel like that's really as a reporter, that's really where so much insight is gleaned. It's not necessarily at the big presentations or at the big onstage moments. It's what's happening in the room and in private conversations. And I have a lot to look toward as we move into coverage for 2026. A lot of great interesting tips and tricks. So talk as much as you can, drink lots of water, and try to sleep.

I find that too. I try to say yes to at least a couple meetings that I never would have done in my day-to-day life in DC. I met somebody from the National Labs today. That was a fascinating conversation. It's good to get out of our...

Yeah, you never know where it's going to come from.

Exactly. Well, Elanor, that's all the time we have. Thanks so much for joining me. And now I'm gonna hand it over to Axios's publisher, Nick Johnston. Thanks, Elanor.

Hello from Davos everyone. I'm Nicholas Johnson, the publisher of Axios here on the promenade where we've had a great week of conversations here with a lot of very interesting people. And of course a huge thanks to Qualcomm for hosting us this week like every year and making all of this possible. And so I'm very excited to welcome probably one of my favorite people to talk to in Davos each year. He's the CMO of Qualcomm, Don McGuire. Don, how are you?