Tianjin, China – June 24–26, 2025
Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder and CEO of Women in Tech Global, took center stage at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions—widely known as “Summer Davos”—in Tianjin, China. The event, which gathered over 1,700 global leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators, spotlighted the urgent need for workforce transformation in the age of artificial intelligence.
Pivoting Workforce: A Dialogue on Inclusion and Innovation
Ayumi participated in the high-profile panel “Pivoting Workforce,” alongside distinguished voices shaping the future of work. The session explored how emerging technologies—especially generative AI—are redefining jobs, skills, and workplace cultures worldwide.
Panelists Included:
– Ayumi Moore Aoki – Founder & CEO, Women in Tech Global
– Kian Katanforoosh – Founder & CEO, Workera
– Carl-Benedikt Frey – Director, Future of Work, Oxford Martin School
– Ni Ying – CEO, Adecco China
Key Insights from the Panel
– AI-Driven Workplace Transformation:
Kian Katanforoosh highlighted how AI is flattening traditional organizational hierarchies, fostering more inclusive and agile workplaces. “The future of the organization is flat,” he remarked, noting that technology is enabling new pathways for collaboration and leadership.
– Upskilling and Empowering Women:
Ayumi Moore Aoki emphasized the critical need to upskill women—particularly in Africa—to harness the continent’s vast and growing talent pool. “One out of every four people in ten years is going to be an African person. So this huge amount of talent that we have there, we have to really focus on it and see how we can leverage it,” she urged.
– Global Workforce Shifts:
Carl-Benedikt Frey pointed out that AI and automation are likely to shift service jobs from high-income to lower-income countries, much like what happened in manufacturing, narrowing global productivity gaps through innovations like machine translation.
– Reimagining HR Practices:
Ni Ying, CEO of Adecco China, shared how some companies are already moving from performance-based pay to AI-driven, skill-based compensation models, signaling a broader transformation in human resources.
Why It Matters
The panel’s discussions underscored the dual challenge and opportunity presented by AI: while automation promises to increase efficiency and create new types of work, it also demands rapid reskilling and a renewed commitment to inclusion.
As the world grapples with rapid technological change, events like Summer Davos serve as a crucial platform for dialogue, partnership, and action.
