This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting explored the many facets of an-increasingly connected world. With a theme of Globalization 4.0, Cognizant leadership again participated in the Forum via two panels co-sponsored with Reuters. There, they discussed the future of human work and the use of blockchain technology in healthcare and insurance.

At the conference, Cognizant Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Francisco D’Souza was named Chairman of the IT and Electronics Governors community, a group of business leaders dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability of their industry and society. A key area of focus for the community in 2019 is the industry’s challenge of trust and how to be responsible stewards of data. 

Examining the future workforce and the role of humans in a machine age, Cognizant’s Ben Pring, Vice President and Director, Center for the Future of Work, discussed the growing impact of artificial intelligence on jobs with other workplace evolutionary experts. “Our intrinsic human ingenuity will always be able to create new work; things we’ve never been able to do before,” said Pring.

The second session covered blockchain technology in healthcare and insurance and its growing ability to solve challenges across industries and in communities worldwide. Cognizant’s Lata Varghese, Consulting Head, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies, joined by Zia Zaman, Chief of Innovations, Asia, MetLife, explored how distributed ledger technology can improve collaboration, trust and security. “The question shouldn’t be, can blockchain do this?” said Varghese. “The question is, do enterprises who have these inefficiencies have the will to use a technology stack that is unique?”

Held each year in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum brings together thousands of leaders from governments, global companies, international organizations and more with the purpose of improving the state of the world by defining priorities and shaping global, industry and regional agendas.

To read more about Cognizant’s contributions to this year’s WEF, click here.