As global leaders prepare for the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, a range of core questions shapes the agenda. Among them is a challenge that continues to draw attention across sectors: how can new sources of growth be unlocked in a world marked by fragmentation and institutional strain? The conversation increasingly centers on the ideas that innovation and technology, human capital development, and integration across borders are essential drivers of sustainable progress. According to Greg Baker, CEO of AffirmedRx, growth in this context is not just an economic question but a human one, where transparent structures and ethical deployment of technology can meaningfully expand value for stakeholders and communities.
AffirmedRx operates as a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) and is structured as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), aiming to balance financial viability with a stated commitment to societal good, particularly in medication access and patient outcomes. “When business models are designed to prioritize stakeholder value and transparency, they can open new opportunities for growth by aligning incentives around long-term outcomes rather than short-term gains,” Baker explains. “Across many sectors, that shift is increasingly seen as a way to rebuild trust and support more inclusive progress.”
At the core of this discussion, according to Baker, is the view that transparency functions as a practical enabler of clearer decision-making and stronger organizational alignment, rather than a symbolic gesture. As per the study, leaders widely link greater organizational transparency with higher levels of employee trust. “When business practices are transparent, organizations often see stronger alignment across teams and more efficient decision-making, which helps reduce silos that can slow collective progress,” Baker notes. “In complex environments, those dynamics are increasingly important for sustaining long-term growth.”
Another core theme at Davos 2026 is how innovation, particularly artificial intelligence and data-driven systems, can be responsibly scaled to address real-world needs without undermining trust or equity. “For healthcare and prescription benefit management, this means embedding ethical guardrails that ensure clinical relevance, human oversight, and clarity in algorithmic decision-making,” Baker says.
AffirmedRx’s Chief Information Officer, Laurel Cipriani, brings a unique clinical and technological perspective to this challenge, emphasizing that innovation with responsibility at its core leads to better protection against harm and more equitable access to care. As a scheduled speaker at Davos 2026, Cipriani is contributing to these global discussions by sharing how ethical, clinically informed technology leadership can shape more trustworthy health systems. She highlights this as a crucial element of responsible growth. “Technology that advances healthcare must also be transparent and accountable, so it builds trust and serves people effectively,” she explains.
According to Cipriani, part of expanding growth potential also lies in addressing longstanding disparities in health experiences and outcomes. One way to conceptualize this challenge is through the lens of lifespan versus healthspan, the period of life spent in good health.
Globally, women tend to live longer than men by about five years on average, reflecting enduring biological and social patterns in longevity. “Living longer does not automatically mean living better, particularly when health systems have not consistently accounted for women’s needs across every stage of life,” Cipriani says. According to her work in ethical AI, many healthcare studies and systems emphasize the needs of men or narrowly defined female subgroups, leaving gaps in effective care for women post-childbearing and in later life.
Cipriani suggests that this kind of holistic thinking about growth matters because it expands the opportunities for positive impact across sectors. “When business model innovation aligns with ethical deployment of technology and an inclusive focus on human well-being, it can unlock sources of value that traditional approaches may overlook,” she notes. “Growth that ignores transparency or the lived experience of people, especially women and traditionally underserved groups, is incomplete.”
As world leaders converge at Davos to debate economic challenges and opportunities, the emphasis on models that combine transparency, responsible innovation, and human-centered outcomes offers a promising framework for unlocking sustainable growth. Rather than making bold claims about a single solution, this discourse underscores a broader lesson: growth is most resilient when it serves stakeholders comprehensively and equitably, reinforces trust, and adapts with integrity to the evolving needs of societies worldwide. Baker notes, “Innovation reaches its full potential only when it is guided by transparency, ethical responsibility, and a clear commitment to improving real human outcomes.”
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