With that in mind, a few themes emerged for me:
With the notable exception of California Governor Gavin Newsom, nobody had a negative word to say about Trump, tariffs or much of what’s happening on the federal policy front. “It’s amazing what feels normalized,” one foreign business leader told me.
The need for leaders to build trust. PR guru Richard Edelman told me to stay tuned for some daunting data on the mass-class divide in the upcoming Edelman Trust Barometer. A finance CEO pointed to a row of bodyguards, reminding me that Dec. 4 is the anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson being shot to death a few blocks away, with his alleged murderer in a downtown courthouse as we spoke.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made a compelling case that policymakers and leaders have to contend with the job loss and societal shift. But the benefits are clear. As attendee and noted CEO coach Marc Feigen told me: “The only bubble may be all this talk about AI bubbles.”
