A Tale of Four Davos: Insights From a Week With World Leaders | Rich Lesser (Global Chairman, BCG)
About this episode
Rich Lesser discusses insights from the World Economic Forum in Davos, highlighting key themes of economic outlook, AI, geopolitics, and climate action.
In this episode of Business & Beyond, Sanjay Chari sits down with Rich Lesser, Global Chairman of BCG and former CEO, immediately following a week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Rich reflects on why this year felt fundamentally different, describing it as “a tale of four Davos” - four conversations unfolding at once. Leaders were debating the global economic outlook with cautious optimism, shifting the AI discussion from hype to value at scale, grappling with rising geopolitical tension, and continuing quieter but determined work on climate and sustainability. The conversation explores what a difficult decade has taught business leaders about resilience, how AI is moving from experimentation to real-world impact, what growing geopolitical fragmentation means for companies operating globally, and why climate action is increasingly driven by business fundamentals rather than public rhetoric. Chapter markers 00:00 Welcome & reflections after Davos 01:18 A tale of four Davos explained 04:20 Davos on the ground: the economic outlook 06:42 Global perspectives 08:48 How institutions and businesses build resilience 14:44 Davos in the cloud: AI moves from hype to…
People in this episode
Host: Sanjay Chari
Guest: Rich Lesser
Topics covered
- global economic outlook
- AI value at scale
- geopolitical tension
- climate and sustainability
- business resilience
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BCG
Places: Davos
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