Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

Demystifying Davos: Behind the scenes with GZERO & Microsoft

Since its launch in the fall of 2020, GZERO Media’s Global Stage series has been bringing our audience in-depth conversations and coverage from the biggest gatherings in the world—including the UN General Assembly, the Munich Security Conference, and the World Bank/IMF annual meetings.

And last week we were in Davos, Switzerland, for the 53rd World Economic Forum. Perhaps you had a chance to check out our livestream on the risks and rewards of AI, or some of Ian Bremmer’s conversations with newsmakers like Finland’s former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. But we also wanted to share with you a behind-the-scenes look at a cool workspace that quickly became the go-to gathering spot for everyone from members of the media to heads of state.


Our partner and sponsor for the Global Stage series, Microsoft, hosted a diverse array of guests throughout the week at their café, located on the Promenade directly across from the Congress Center where the mainstage Forum events take place.

Microsoft’s VP of Global Public Affairs, Steve Clayton, took us on a tour of the facility. Fun fact: the rest of the year the café is actually a bowling alley. But for one week in January, it is transformed into an international salon for conversations ranging from digital inclusion to cybersecurity to the power of the metaverse.

More from Global Stage

Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future?

How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft.

Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?

As the tense and politically charged 2025 Munich Security Conference draws to a close, GZERO’s Global Stage series presents a conversation about strained relationships between the US and Europe, Ukraine's path ahead, and rising threats in cyberspace.

Can we rebuild the Internet for democracy?

At the 2026 Munich Security Conference, entrepreneur and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt makes the case that the internet, and the AI systems rapidly reshaping it, must be redesigned to serve people, not platforms.

Ian Bremmer: The US–China AI space has “Zero Trust”

China was largely absent from the core conversations at the 2026 Munich Security Conference. That, says Ian Bremmer, is telling.

Why countries are picking their own alliances

At the 62nd Munich Security Conference, Parag Khanna, founder and CEO of AlphaGeo, says globalization isn't dead, it's evolving. Speaking with GZERO’s Tony Maciulis, he explains that countries are forming flexible alliances that expand and shrink based on their interests. “You’d rather be in the tent...if it suits your interest than not in it,” Khanna notes, highlighting how the US, Europe, and Asia are adapting to shifting global priorities.

What does “sovereign cloud” really mean?

Sovereignty has become one of the most powerful, and least defined, words in tech policy. At the 2026 Munich Security Conference, SAP global head of government affairs, Wolfgang Dierker, explains why governments and enterprise customers are demanding more control over their data, cloud infrastructure, and AI systems amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.