The Davos Signal: It is Time to Pour the Concrete
I usually scroll past the headlines coming out of Davos. It often feels like a disconnect from the reality my clients face every day. But this week, a specific conversation made me stop and listen.
It was Larry Fink of BlackRock and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA sitting on a stage together.
This was not just two CEOs chatting. It was a handshake between massive capital and massive compute. If you look past the buzzwords, the signal they sent to the market was loud and clear.
The "hype" phase of AI is over. We have entered the construction phase.
The Lamppost Theory
You know I like taking photos of lampposts. They are simple, boring infrastructure. We do not notice them until it gets dark. But someone had to dig the hole, pour the concrete, and wire the grid to make them work.
Jensen Huang made a similar point. He called AI the "largest infrastructure buildout in human history."
He described a "five-layer cake." Everyone is obsessed with the icing, which is the application layer (the chatbots and agents). But Huang pointed out that the icing needs four massive layers beneath it: Energy, Chips, Data Centers, and Models.
This is the message for CIOs. You cannot just buy the software anymore. You have to think about the plumbing.
The Return of the Industrial Base
Here is the take that people are missing.
This is no longer just a digital story. It is a physical one. To build this five-layer cake, we need electricians, steelworkers, and logistics experts. We need to build power plants and cool data centers.
Jensen called this the rise of "Physical AI."
For nations with strong manufacturing roots, this is a massive opportunity. You can stop worrying about writing the code and start focusing on housing the intelligence. It bridges the gap between the "tech elite" and the industrial workforce.
Own Your Intelligence
The final point that stuck with me was the idea of "Sovereign AI."
If AI is a utility like electricity, you cannot rely on a long extension cord running to another country. You need your own generator. Countries and large enterprises need to own their data and their models. It is a matter of national and corporate security.
Stop waiting for the "killer app." The value right now is in the foundation. If you are a leader, look at your infrastructure. If you do not have the power and the plumbing sorted out, the AI applications will not matter. It is time to pour the concrete.
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects my personal views only. AI tools may have been used for brevity, structure, or research support. Please independently verify any information before relying on it. This content does not represent the views of my employer, Infotech.com.
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