Tech Experts Emphasize Adaptability During Davos Meeting Amid Market Fragmentation

On January 22, global technology leaders and experts highlighted the importance of adapting strategies to seize opportunities in this era of fragmentation during a special gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“The fascinating part is that no one agrees on anything regarding artificial intelligence,” said Dowson Tong, senior executive vice president at a major tech company, during the Vision Dinner yesterday. “What sets humans apart is personal interaction, diverse opinions, and the ability to collaborate from different perspectives despite differences.”

The event, named Tencent Finance WEF Vision Dinner 2026, was hosted by a leading Chinese internet company, with media partnership from a global financial news outlet.

According to Gim Huay Neo, managing director and chair of China at the World Economic Forum’s managing board, global collaboration is evolving rather than declining. “Instead of multilateralism, we now see a concept called minilateralism,” she explained, describing it as smaller coalitions formed by like-minded countries.

“The idea of minilateralism is very much a reality in this fragmented world,” Neo said. She stressed that these groups should aim for shared goals—such as boosting business opportunities, increasing trade, and attracting more investments—rather than pursuing narrow interests.

Critical to adaptability is increasingly relying on industrial depth over mere optimization. Global supply chains have transitioned from an era focused solely on efficiency to one that demands multiple options and scenarios, according to Joël Ruet, chairman of The Bridge Tank, a dialogue platform.

“In China, all segments of industry are present, and that’s what we need,” Ruet argued, contrasting this with Europe’s over-specialized approach that has “damaged the ecosystem.” Maintaining breadth across sectors allows one industry’s development to support the next, fostering systemic innovation instead of linear planning.

When recombination becomes essential—whether due to technological upheaval or geopolitical pressures—preserving multiple industrial segments provides strategic flexibility that highly specialized economies may lack. Ruet explained that this explains why some regions can pivot toward emerging technologies while others cannot, despite similar financial resources.

Broader shifts are reflected in sector-specific adaptations. For example, tailored AI models designed for specific fields, such as education, tend to be more effective than general large language models that simply respond without fostering learning, said Jolene Liang, co-founder of a leading education technology firm.

The United States remains a significant, disruptive force, but accounts for only about 25 percent of global GDP, said Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics from 2001. He addressed concerns about deglobalization by noting that the remaining 75 percent—including Europe, China, and other emerging economies—operate within an increasingly evolving multilateral system.

“Trade volumes are not declining,” he emphasized. “The idea that everything is collapsing is probably incorrect.”

Spence highlighted how technology-driven inclusive growth patterns are spreading worldwide. “Digital payment systems, digital credit platforms, and AI-driven services that reach remote populations started in China and are now being adopted globally,” he said.

The most significant initial impacts of AI are expected in biomedical science, with AlphaFold’s protein folding technology—used by three million researchers across 190 countries—serving as a prime example, he explained.

Regarding broader economic effects, Spence urged caution against hasty predictions, noting that organizations are still exploring the best uses of these technologies, which evolve rapidly—every three months or so.

During China’s 2026-2030 development plan, the focus will shift towards integrating green consumption alongside green production, creating a comprehensive closed-loop system, said Wang Yao, director general of the International Institute of Green Finance. “As consumers increasingly vote with their wallets for eco-friendly products, our industrial chain will naturally shift more toward sustainability,” he said.