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The WTO's director-general had a stark warning about tariffs

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, said in a session that she feared President Trump's tariffs could trigger retaliation and "catastrophic" damage to the global economy.

"We should not hyperventilate, we should take a deep breath," the former finance minister of Nigeria said, noting the US may still not follow through on its tariff threats.

Okonjo-Iweala, a Harvard and MIT-trained economist, said she wanted to avoid "a self-fulfilling prophecy" where talk of a tariff war causes politicians to wage one. She warned retaliation to Trump's tariffs could cause "catastrophic" double-digit global GDP losses and "everyone will pay."

Even if the world splits up into two trading blocs and there's wider uncertainty about trade policies, she said, an estimated 6.4% of real global GDP or $6.75 trillion could be lost in the longer term. That would be equivalent to "losing the economy of Japan and Korea combined," Okonjo-Iweala said. "That's far from trivial." — Theron Mohamed

A DEI advocate says it can survive — if it focuses on the business case

The new US administration's attitudes toward DEI initiatives might not seem hopeful for those in the space, but Mary Ellen Iskenderian still sees opportunities.

As president and CEO of Women's World Banking, a global nonprofit, she's focused on helping low-income women in the developing world access financial tools and resources. She's also tentatively entering the US with a for-profit impact investment management fund.

Despite many businesses seeming to pull back on their DEI efforts — although that list doesn't include JPMorgan — Iskenderian told me she's not deterred. The key is positioning any changes as focused on improving the business.

She told me that, after Davos, she's headed to Zurich to make a business pitch with a large European bank about DEI efforts within its wealth business.

The issue? Across the board, 60% of private banks' female clients will leave their bank when their husband dies because the relationship manager hasn't been talking to them.

It's solving those types of business-focused issues that Iskenderian believes will be key.

"I'm cautiously optimistic that if it stays within the business case, it's still going to be something," she told me. — Dan DeFrancesco

Uber wants to 'out Amazon' Amazon

"Never underestimate the power of human laziness," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told a small gathering on Wednesday in a Q&A. He was talking about Uber's plans for growing its same-day delivery network with merchants spanning from Apple to Walmart. "Ultimately what we want to do is empower every single local merchant to out-Amazon Amazon," he said.

Khosrowshahi traveled to Switzerland after attending festivities in DC for Donald Trump's inauguration, where he described seeing a reinvigorated sense of optimism among business leaders.

"You see it, whether you agree with the executive orders or not, there's a sense that there's a window, there's a permission to move quickly," he said. — Hugh Langley

March will be the month for tech IPOs

April's showers bring May flowers, but March will be the month for IPOs.

That's the expected timeline for tech companies to finally start going public again after a long drought in the space, according to bankers I've spoken with here.

Specifically, keep an eye on companies backed by private equity. One banker told me that private equity is feeling pressure to show a path to liquidity, and those assets are often too big to sell to another firm. There's also a desire to free up capital during what's becoming an exciting time to put money back to work.

Another banker made similar comments about the public window starting to open. They also pointed to the growing appetite among active managers to tap into IPOs to gain some alpha, given the strength of passive investing, as another sign of momentum.

But don't expect an absolute free-for-all. It won't be a return to the hysteria of 2021. Instead, expect a normal year similar to what we saw pre-pandemic, the banker added. — Dan DeFrancesco

Will AI widen the gender gap?

The conversations around AI have been overwhelming, especially with the rise of agentic AI and the talent transformation needed to keep up. But there's a growing concern that these advancements could deepen the gender gap, particularly in low-income countries.

Smriti Irani, a former Indian cabinet minister and the founder of the Alliance for Global Good, Gender Equality, and Equity, shared her concerns with me. She said, "One big risk with generative AI is that it relies heavily on scraping the internet to train its algorithms. But how much of that content actually represents women's issues?"

She also highlighted a crucial challenge for women in low-income countries: "The penetration of the internet is still a challenge. What happens to women and their businesses or their livelihoods in those countries, especially if most economies start pushing for automation?" Irani also emphasized that 70% of jobs held by women globally are vulnerable to automation.

"You have an opportunity coming, but you will also be overwhelmed by the fact that you have a subset of women who are potentially humanly trained to do jobs. They will reach a particular maturity in terms of their interface with their own organizations, and suddenly we have new technology coming that can use AI for workflow in the workplace. What happens to that female potential?"

As AI reshapes the workforce, the question remains: Will it help close the gender gap, or will it leave women further behind? — Spriha Srivastava

Davos is already prepping for 2026

The conference doesn't technically wrap until midday Friday, but things are already winding down. Some people leave Thursday, while a good chunk of the delegates head out early Friday.

But an end is just a new beginning, and that's the case for Davos … 2026.

Planning for next year's event has already begun. Plenty of companies will lock down their spaces along the Promenade — the main street that runs through town where retail shops are transformed into a "haus" for the business renting it — by the end of the week if they haven't already done so. When I arrived on Sunday afternoon, I saw one shop with a large display advertising itself as a potential 2026 home base.

Reservations at restaurants for big dinners also start filling up fast, although one person involved in event planning told me some establishments opt to wait a bit in hopes they can just rent out the entire space in one go.

The entire week is a boon for local businesses and homeowners, who make many multiples above what they see selling things or renting out their space any other week of the year.

Of course, some shops choose to stay open, like the town's luxury watch shop. (Its Rolex signage fits in quite well with the vibes, to be honest.)

And then there's the one souvenir shop in the middle of town, which might secretly do the best business. A simple cotton T-shirt with some Davos branding can run you close to $40. — Dan DeFrancesco

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