That framing captures the conversation of the moment. But an equally consequential question I heard at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting was more forward-looking: in a world with unprecedented technology, knowledge, and interconnectedness, can the benefits of the latest waves of innovation actually accelerate inclusive growth rather than undermine it?
This is not a new question—but it is an urgent one. McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has studied these dynamics over the past 100 years, and the long-term trend is more encouraging than many assume. Inequality between countries has been falling for roughly 55 years. In fact, if the world were a single nation, inequality today would be at its lowest level in a century.
Technologies like AI and automation, for example, could unlock enormous productivity and abundance. But they could further concentrate economic gains in a handful of sectors, firms, countries, and individuals. Research suggests AI alone could add trillions of dollars in value annually, but without deliberate action, the distribution of those gains could be unevenly distributed. Whether growth becomes more inclusive will depend less on the technology itself and more on where leaders invest, how they partner, and how quickly they translate ambition into execution.
Three realities stood out.
First, resilience is improving—but confidence is not.
Geopolitics was the starting point of nearly every discussion, reflecting both the scale of global tensions and the strong presence of political leaders on the ground. Yet beneath the uncertainty, many companies are quietly becoming more capable. New trade corridors are emerging. Supply chains are being redesigned for diversification, optionality, and structural flexibility. Leaders spoke candidly about building redundancy—even when it raises near-term costs—because the alternative is deeper, more prolonged disruption.
Organizations are becoming more resilient, but progress remains uneven. Preparedness has improved by 13 percentage points since 2024, yet only one in four companies considers itself ready to withstand disruption across all resilience dimensions. That gap between improved resilience and persistent unease is shaping investment decisions—and reinforcing a bias toward caution. This caution risks slowing inclusive growth precisely where and when it is most needed.
Second, cooperation is becoming more practical—even as traditional multilateralism strains.
While global institutions face mounting pressure, cooperation itself is not disappearing—it is becoming more targeted. What stood out at Davos was a shift away from broad declarations toward smaller, execution-focused coalitions designed to solve specific problems. These partnerships are increasingly built around clear incentives, shared risk, and the ability to deliver results.
This pragmatism is especially visible in Europe. Many leaders described this moment as a turning point: revitalizing industrial and defense capacity, accelerating AI infrastructure, simplifying regulation, and rethinking alliances and trade relationships are no longer long-term ambitions. They are near-term economic imperatives. Critically, their success will hinge on whether investment reaches beyond incumbents to smaller firms, regions, and workforces that have historically been excluded from growth.
Third, growth has become more inclusive globally—but more unequal locally.
One of the underappreciated success stories of the past half-century is how much global inequality between countries has fallen, as is detailed in MGI’s book A Century of Plenty. Growth in large emerging economies has lifted hundreds of millions of people into the middle class and reshaped the global economy. Today, emerging markets account for nearly 60 percent of global GDP and are central to any credible resilience or growth agenda, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook data.
This progress changes—and does not resolve—the inclusion challenge. As inequality between countries has narrowed, inequality within countries has become more pronounced, within both advanced and developing economies. The principal driver of inequality is not economic progress by itself, but the differences across the industries and companies in which people work, the skills they have, the technologies they use, and the markets they can access. The central question is whether the gains from growth and technology are reaching enough people.
Progress will depend on sustained investment in infrastructure, digital ecosystems, and workforce development. This issue became particularly acute in conversations about AI and automation. These technologies can help emerging markets leapfrog—but only if the foundations are in place. Without investment in skills, connectivity, and institutions, next-generation technologies risk widening gaps rather than closing them, both within countries and between them.
What this means for leaders and investors.
The economic implication is clear: resilience and inclusion are now inseparable. Capital flows toward environments that offer predictable policy, credible risk-sharing, and coalitions built for execution—not rhetoric.
Looking at digital infrastructure, for example, McKinsey research suggests that closing the gap will require more than $19 trillion in investment through 2040, much of it in markets that have been underinvested for decades. With those strategic investments in areas like digital connectivity, and workforce skills, the returns can be transformative—unlocking productivity, jobs, and broader participation in growth. The same logic applies to technology: organizations that lead in digital and AI capabilities outperform peers by two to six times, but only when adoption is paired with investment in people and ecosystems.
My biggest takeaway from Davos this year: more leaders across business, government, and civil society are engaging in serious, evidence-based dialogue about real economic trade-offs—including how to ensure the next wave of growth is broadly shared. That’s not naive optimism. It’s a pragmatic foundation for rebuilding trust, aligning incentives, and expanding opportunity in a world where resilience without inclusion will not be enough.
This article originally appeared in Forbes.