How strategic intelligence powers the spirit of dialogue

Every morning, the world wakes up to more information and data than it can reasonably absorb. For leaders, the problem is that there is too much of it, coming too quickly, and that it is often fragmented and sometimes fabricated, outpacing their ability to interpret it. And it is not just leaders, citizens too face the same challenge: information has never been more abundant, yet genuine insight feels increasingly scarce.

Each generation has felt that its moment was uniquely complex. Yet today, the scale, speed and simultaneity of change give this era an almost “big bang” feel: geopolitical realignments, climate disruption, demographic shifts and exponential technologies are all unfolding at once, emerging in ways that stretch our existing mental models.

Against this backdrop, the need for a trusted and impartial space for dialogue has never been clearer. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, meeting under the theme A Spirit of Dialogue, invites leaders from business, government, civil society, science and culture to engage openly across divides: listening, questioning and problem-solving around shared global challenges.

Building on the Forum’s long-standing tradition of fostering cooperation across geographies and generations, this year’s programme focuses on five pressing questions shaping the decade ahead: how to cooperate in a more contested world, unlock new sources of growth, invest better in people, scale innovation responsibly, and sustain prosperity within planetary boundaries.

There is an urgent need for dialogue that is rooted in shared understanding and trust, spaces where evidence is shared openly, assumptions are tested constructively, and perspectives are broadened. These are the conditions for meaningful cooperation.

In this context, the Forum’s Strategic Intelligence platform provides a mechanism to address information overload and help turn it into collective understanding. By curating high-quality knowledge and making the interconnections between issues more visible, the platform helps decision-makers move beyond intuition, headline cycles, or partisan noise, and support decisions that can be explained, scrutinized and debated in good faith. In doing so, it gives governments, businesses and civil society a shared factual starting point from which trust can be established or rebuilt, even when perspectives diverge.

Strategic Intelligence is built on a recognition that no single actor or sector can grasp complex global systems alone. Each of its more than 300 expert-curated Transformation Maps, whether on the Energy Transition, Geo-economics, Blockchain, Food Security, or our intelligence on specific industries like Engineering and Construction and Electricity, not only shows the key trends around the topic, but also illustrates the mesh of inter-relationships around it.

Strategic Intelligence illustrates how these distinct themes are interdependent, supported by trend analysis and foresight scenarios available in the AI-augmented dynamic briefings. The platform filters and elevates what matters, links it to credible sources and helps identify signals from noise.

While the Annual Meeting catalyses dialogue, the issues it highlights develop all year long. Strategic Intelligence allows those conversations to continue well beyond the conference rooms. As new research, data, technologies and geopolitical shifts emerge, its Transformation Maps evolve continuously, capturing the latest insights and analysis.

This agility makes Strategic Intelligence more than just a resource, but a living system of collective intelligence. Policy-makers can trace evolving dynamics in AI ethics or energy security. Businesses can monitor how geopolitical risks alter global value chains. Civil society and academia can track progress in public health, mobility and digital inclusion.

Through this ongoing process, Strategic Intelligence helps extend the collaboration fostered in Davos, helping its users to access the latest research, analysis and foresight, long after the sessions close. The result is a global dialogue that is continuous, adaptive and informed.

Strategic Intelligence is key for effective modern leadership, building shared understanding across sectors. Systemic challenges, whether decarbonization or digital safety, require diverse actors to see a common landscape before they can cooperate. Strategic Intelligence provides that shared blueprint. In addition, it embeds foresight into strategy. Its scenario-based approach encourages leaders to prepare, an ability that defines resilience in an age of uncertainty. It also democratizes access to credible knowledge. By aggregating insights from hundreds of trusted sources, it helps counter misinformation and bridges the gap between technical research and public understanding.

Learn more about Strategic Intelligence

The Strategic Intelligence platform uses a blend of human and machine intelligence that helps make sense of the interconnected world and enable informed, systemic and forward-looking dialogue. It serves as a platform that cuts through the noise, connects the dots and reminds us that the path to shared progress begins with shared understanding.