During the reporting period, the Forum experienced good partnership growth of over 4% despite geopolitical challenges. The partnership base rose to a record high of 884, an increase of 39 over the previous fiscal year, reflecting strong retention and the addition of more than 130 new partners.

Of these, more than 80 companies signed Associate Partnerships, several of which were Unicorns expanding their engagement, while the Strategic Partner community maintained its membership level of 121 partners as of 30 June 2024.

Strong partnership levels translated into robust attendance at the Annual Meeting 2024, in which more than 1,500 business leaders, including more than 1,000 chief executive officers and chairs, participated.

In addition to the Annual Meeting, the Forum convened stakeholders at several key events, bringing together business leaders to advance its initiatives and provide a platform for dialogue on critical trends affecting businesses.

There was double-digit partnership growth in the energy sector, while partnership levels in materials and infrastructure also showed meaningful rises.

Regionally, the Forum registered strong growth from China, with renewed interest from partners following the end of pandemic-related measures in early 2023. Europe and North America also performed strongly in terms of new partners.

As the partnership base continued to grow, engagement also deepened, and in response, the Forum strengthened partner service capabilities to ensure that it could collaborate with companies more effectively.

A critical component of this new approach was the opportunity to engage more deeply with the Forum’s 22 Global Industry Communities. Similarly, with partnerships expanding throughout sectors, this had the added benefit of helping to broaden the issues with which the Forum engages. These developments will provide for richer, more fruitful discussions about those industry issues that are of greatest relevance to partners, particularly for chief executive officers and strategy officers.

Whereas the partnership base engages the world’s largest companies, the Forum’s Innovator Community engages approximately 400 leading start-ups. Their chief executive officers engage in the Forum’s thematic centres and initiatives, offering their insights and potential contributions to global issues. The community includes 200 early-stage Technology Pioneers, approximately 100 growth-stage Global Innovators and approximately 100 late-stage Unicorns. During the reporting period, there was a focus on generative AI, with nearly all start-ups in this sector participating in Forum events and initiatives.

The Forum’s 22 Global Industry Communities aim to advance responsible industry transformation through peer-to-peer exchanges and collaboration. Chief executive officers and strategy officers engaged in the Forum’s communities throughout the reporting period, discussing and seeking to anticipate the opportunities and challenges created by geopolitics, generative AI and the energy transition on operating and business models.

The International Business Council (IBC) is a prominent cross-industry and cross-regional community comprising approximately 120 leading global chief executive officers. The IBC is dedicated to supporting deep peer exchanges and spearheading collective actions on global issues, aligning with the multistakeholder approach central to the Forum’s mission.

The IBC has concentrated its efforts on expediting the global energy transition, aiming to achieve a balance between sustainability, energy security, and equitable and affordable energy access, with a specific focus on working with energy users – also referred to as the “demand side”. In 2024, the IBC published the Transforming Energy Demand report highlighting the potential to decrease energy demand by over 30% while continuing to generate similar levels of output and while using existing technologies at commercial rates of return. The community has contributed to more than 50 practical good practices to inspire replication and scale-up of these actions.

The initiative received a boost in November 2023 at the COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, when more than 120 governments pledged to work together to collectively double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from approximately 2% to more than 4% every year until 2030. Additionally, they put the principle of energy efficiency as the “first fuel” at the core of policy-making, planning and major investment decisions.

In the first half of 2024, the initiative focused on public policy advocacy and value chain partnerships to support the achievement of the global energy efficiency goal while continuing to make the case for energy demand management and its role in accelerating energy transition.

Additionally, the IBC continued to support the Stakeholder Metrics Initiative, a multi-year effort to align the private sector in advocating for a global baseline of sustainability reporting. Since 2019, many Forum partners have engaged in this work by supporting peer exchange and knowledge sharing to enhance sustainability reporting through the global community of practitioners.

The Forum also facilitated dialogues between companies, market regulators and policy-makers to continuously advocate for global alignment. It also continued to work with the International Sustainability Standards Board to help establish global standards for sustainability reporting.

The Global Programming Group (GPG) is central to the Forum’s institutional events, overseeing their architecture, design, programmes and execution. Collaborating throughout the organization, the GPG magnifies the work of the Forum’s 10 centres, integrating their insights into in-person meetings.

With in-person events regaining prominence during the reporting period, the GPG delivered several large gatherings, including the Annual Meeting, the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions and the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings.

The team also supported the planning, programming and execution of other high-level gatherings, including the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development 2024, the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils, the Global Technology Retreat and the AI Governance Summit.

Additionally, the team provided strategic support for the Industry Strategy Meeting and the Forum’s live programming at COP28.

The Global Communications Group (GCG) is at the forefront of engagement with the public, media, stakeholders and staff. Through its multiple channels, the group is responsible for communicating the mission and work of the Forum and its constituents.

Across its owned channels, the group develops written, audio, video and live content to communicate the work of the Forum’s centres and share developments from Forum events, highlighting findings from the Forum’s knowledge products and mainstreaming business and policy solutions emerging from its initiatives. The Forum’s two primary owned channels – its social media and public website – reached and engaged global audiences. The Forum’s 10 main brand social media accounts now have 28 million followers (with 2 million new followers), and its website saw 29 million visitors. Forum publications attracted 4.6 million readers, and articles attracted 20 million readers on its public website. Sessions from the Annual Meeting 2024 were streamed across the Forum’s website and social media channels, gathering a total of 7.4 million views, with a total of 13 million views across all meetings.

The Forum also engages across a broad spectrum of media outlets – reaching an estimated audience of 1.3 billion people in 2023-2024 – amplifying the Forum’s mission and curating the active participation of media leaders in Forum activities as voices crucial to an inclusive multistakeholder approach. The Forum engages with diverse media representing a broad range of orientations and opinions, and its work is covered extensively by global, regional and sectoral media outlets. Geographically, the Forum saw considerable increases in coverage throughout China, Europe, India, Japan, the Middle East and North Africa, and the US. The group also co-designed sessions with international media outlets throughout the Forum’s programme of events, including the Annual Meeting, the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development, and the Annual Meeting of New Champions.

As part of its multistakeholder approach, the Forum engaged with a wide range of expert communities, including academics, universities, think tanks, research institutes and the Network of the Global Future Councils. During the reporting period, the latter comprised 30 thematic councils linked to the ongoing work of the Forum centres’ activities. This work sits within the Centre for the New Economy and Society.

As part of the Forum’s multistakeholder approach, it engages a diverse community of civil society leaders to find solutions, drive impact and advance cooperation with government and business leaders. In the reporting period, the Forum’s Civil Society Communities included the engagement of the most influential organizations representing the interests of citizens, consumers, marginalized populations, workers, grassroots movements and social causes, including over 150 global and regional non-governmental organizations, non-profits and charities, over 50 representatives from global and national trade unions, over 100 faith leaders and groups, over 70 indigenous representatives and leaders, and a number of globally recognized activists and social movements providing diverse and challenging perspectives. This work sits within the Centre for Regions, Trade and Geopolitics.

In the reporting period, the Forum placed an emphasis on integrating generative AI into its core digital services, enhancing user experiences throughout its digital ecosystem. This strategic focus aligns with its commitment to using advanced technologies to promote inclusive dialogue, generate insights and facilitate collective action among its diverse global communities.

A highlight of the year’s technology advancements was the introduction of Forum GPT – a tool designed to boost staff productivity and streamline operations by creating a variety of automated workflows. Forum GPT uses commercially available and open-source large language models, enabling customized workflows that incorporate organizational data and insights from all its reports, including content from the Strategic Intelligence platform.

To ensure responsible deployment of generative AI and adherence to its best practices, the Forum also established a Responsible AI Governance Committee to oversee the implementation of AI technologies and ensure they align with the Forum’s ethical standards.

Further advancements in the organization’s technology roadmap included significant enhancements to its suite of digital tools, making them more robust, intuitive and integrated. The newly developed mobile app, Forum Live, improved participants’ event experience by offering new features, such as virtual business cards and digital wayfinding, facilitating greater interactivity.

The expansion of Forum Spaces broadened the Forum’s outreach and engagement capabilities, supporting the Forum’s initiatives. These spaces feature a modular community-interaction toolset, making them more adaptive and responsive. This allows for content and interactions tailored to various stakeholders’ specific needs, thereby strengthening existing partnerships and attracting new members and collaborators.

Now serving more than 1 million registered users, the Strategic Intelligence platform remained a vital resource for understanding and navigating complex global trends. With the integration of generative AI, the platform offers features like summaries of emerging trends and scenarios, providing more timely and actionable insights.

At the Annual Meeting 2024, the Global Collaboration Village (GCV) – the organization’s virtual reality initiative – became open and operational. The Forum hosted over 100 collaborative sessions during five events, including bringing more than 400 on-site and remote guests to the GCV experience. In a significant step for the third-party content model, the first five village partners designed their own custom virtual pavilions and hosted individual sessions
and stakeholders alongside the main meeting programme.

These initiatives were part of the Forum’s broader effort to develop a fully virtual community of digital members, providing broader access to its insights and resources and facilitating ongoing engagement throughout the year. This approach underscored the organization’s commitment to enhancing global cooperation and driving impactful change through innovative digital solutions.

UpLink, the Forum’s community that identifies and empowers breakthrough technologies to solve urgent sustainability challenges, expanded its reach during the reporting period. It became more ambitious and accelerated its activities as part of its moves to drive positive systemic change for people and the planet.

Since its launch, UpLink has emerged as a catalyst for change, transforming from a digital platform sourcing impact-driven entrepreneurs into a dynamic ecosystem of 432 Top Innovators, 46 Top Investors, nine funding partners and more than 300 supporting partners. This diverse group, alongside several Forum centres and initiatives, is united to deliver UpLink’s three objectives: accelerating the impact of early-stage entrepreneurs and investors, enabling ecosystems of diverse stakeholders, and shifting perceptions about the role of innovation in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The reporting period saw UpLink broaden its participation at Forum and partner events around the world, with 159 Top Innovators involved in events throughout the year, including the Annual Meeting.

In April 2024, the Forum appointed its new chief financial officer, responsible for all financial aspects of the Forum’s global activities.

During this reporting period, despite a challenging economic and geopolitical environment, partnership and membership revenue remained high at CHF 271 million, representing a 2.6% year-on-year increase. This reflects the high retention level of partners and the growth associated with new partners joining the Forum’s communities.

Grants, predominantly from public institutions and foundations, continued to accelerate the impact of the Forum’s initiatives during the reporting period. Direct funding decreased by CHF 2.153 million over the period and amounted to approximately 11% of total revenue. The Forum is currently investing in a dedicated grant management tool, which will become operational in the 2024-2025 fiscal year to further support direct funding activities.

Similarly, a new procurement tool is currently being designed and implemented and will become operational in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It includes a “purchase-to-pay” function and serves as a supplier management and contracting solution. It optimizes procurement operations and expense control and also creates a consolidated database for suppliers and contracts, providing enhanced visibility and efficient control in these areas.

During the fiscal year 2023-2024, the organization enhanced portfolio and treasury management functions by implementing robust reporting and risk management frameworks. In response to the high interest rate environment during the period, the Forum strategically realigned treasury policies
to optimize portfolio allocation.

Given economic and geopolitical uncertainties and implications for investment strategies, the Forum diligently managed risks through strategic diversification in different asset classes and custodians. This ensured that the portfolio remained robust, capable of withstanding various economic pressures and safeguarded the organization’s assets. Additionally, the Forum continued to prioritize investments in private, environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused assets, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable investing.