For over 50 years, the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos has served as a barometer for global priorities. When business leaders, policymakers, and activists converge on this Swiss mountain town, their focus often signals emerging imperatives on where the world is going. This year’s emphasis on brain health marks a watershed moment in how we think about the future of management, and workplace resilience.
In a world dominated by news around artificial intelligence, political polarization, and climate crises, leaders are recognizing that human cognitive capacity—our ability to think, adapt, and collaborate—will determine our collective future. Enter: the Brain House, founded by George Vradenburg of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative.
Sitting a few hundred meters away from the primary meeting space of the World Economic Forum, the Brain House was hosted in a building known as the ICON, a structure made from regenerative materials and designed to be “modular, sustainable, and mobile,” according to Stan Stalnaker, founding director of Hub Culture.
Brain House, hosted by Hub Culture, was a convening space for leaders at Davos.
It was here that I connected with George Vradenburg, founder of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, Lucy Pérez, Senior Partner at the McKinsey Health Institute, and Patrick Kennedy—former Congressman and founder of the Kennedy Forum.
Four critical insights emerged from our conversations.
First, Call It Brain Health
According to research published by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and the McKinsey Health Institute, the artificial divisions between neurological health, mental health, and cognitive performance no longer serve us. The science increasingly shows these are interconnected aspects of how our brains respond to stress, adapt to change, and maintain resilience.
“Good brain health is an enabler of great health for everyone,” emphasizes Pérez. “By framing it as brain health, we can address everything from mental well-being to neurological diseases without stigma.” The stakes are significant: brain disorders currently cost the global economy approximately $5 trillion annually, a figure expected to triple by 2030.
“Our system today is totally designed for a reactive sick care approach,” adds Kennedy. Referring to it as brain health allows us to “move from treatment to prevention” because it allows us to mitigate the risk factors associated with all brain health disorders — from dementia to depression.
Second, Focus on the Workplace
The workplace, where we “spend a third of our waking hours,” has become ground zero for brain health according to Vradenburg. “Businesses are having a challenge with all the turnover that occurs due to mental health issues associated with stress,” explains Vradenburg.
Data from the Surgeon General’s office details that these effects aren’t just contained to one or two businesses. They shared that 76% of U.S. workers reported one symptom of a mental health condition, and 84% of workers reported that their workplace conditions had contributed to at least one mental health challenge.
The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, the McKinsey Health Institute, and the Business Collaborative for Brain Health published a framework which explains that the stress people carry doesn’t just affect our mental health. It affects our neurological health, and our workplace performance.
They isolate nine interconnected variables that have the same effect: (i) stress, (ii) sleep, (iii) community engagement, (iv) health risk factors, (v) social support, (vi) physical activity, (vii) cognitive engagement, (viii) access to health care, (ix) mindsets and beliefs.
There can be a unifying model for understanding brain health that links together all the same risk … [+]
It’s not meant to be a dire story. When these risk factors are addressed, we improve our mental health, workplace performance, and neurological health — which helps companies increase retention, productivity, innovation, adaptability. And, we reduce healthcare costs.
So why isn’t this industry standard?
Third, Develop Your Managers
It’s managers who shape the daily experiences that determine workplace brain health. Their decisions—from meeting schedules to performance metrics—create ripple effects through entire teams. “The manager plays such a pivotal role in how an employee feels, the level of engagement, the level of connection to the company,” Pérez notes.
A manager’s influence on brain health manifests in countless daily decisions. When they schedule back-to-back meetings without breaks or send late-night emails with a mis-calibrated sense of urgency, they disrupt basic biological needs. When they create environments where taking lunch breaks is seen as lack of commitment or celebrate “always on” behavior, they establish norms that lead to burnout. When they fail to address toxic team dynamics or set unrealistic deadlines, they erode the psychological safety essential for cognitive well-being.
“This is where a lot more work needs to happen in up-skilling the managers,” Pérez emphasizes. This up-skilling isn’t just about recognition and response to brain health challenges—it’s about fundamentally reimagining management practices.
The shift requires moving beyond traditional management metrics to consider the cognitive impact of leadership decisions. When managers understand their role in brain health, they become architects of sustainable performance rather than drivers of burnout.
Fourth, All Change Begins Within
Most managers today were not trained with the resources or the community to talk about their brain health. And so, the work of the change management that’s required to make changes at scale must begin within.
While organizations often approach change through external initiatives—new policies, programs, or benefits—lasting transformation begins with leaders examining their own relationship with brain health. This internal work means understanding personal stress triggers, recognizing how our own behaviors impact others, and modeling the changes we wish to see.
“All the new employees, the under 30, have different expectations than the previous generation in terms of what they want their work environment to look like,” observes Kennedy. Meeting these expectations requires leaders to first confront their own assumptions about work, wellness, and performance.
The most effective leaders are those who openly discuss their own brain health practices—whether it’s blocking “thinking time” on their calendar, setting clear email boundaries, or discussing their brain health challenges. When leaders demonstrate vulnerability and intentional brain health practices, it creates permission for others to do the same.
Looking Ahead
While brain health innovation will largely happen in the private sector, policy still matters. “The number of people with brain disorders, the cost, the social impact of brain disorders is not going away,” notes Vradenburg. It’s imperative that we examine the systemic causes at-play, and how governments can be a force for good.
Vradenburg expressed concern about the new administration’s approach: “Trump’s decision to withdraw from WHO and defer developmental assistance is a mistake.” With 80% of dementia cases projected to be in the Global South by 2050, international collaboration remains crucial. It’s the only way that we address brain health at-scale.
At the end of the day, the message from Davos is clear: in an era of AI, political instability, and climate change, brain health is no longer just about wellness — it’s about survival for ourselves, and our organizations.
Organizations that succeed will be those that treat brain health not as an initiative, but as a fundamental business priority. They’ll start with managers, simplify the approach, and create environments where cognitive well-being drives both individual and organizational resilience in an increasingly complex world.
Davos 2025. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
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