There are three buzzwords among politicians and business leaders at this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: diversity, equality and inclusion.
It's no wonder Dei is on the minds of corporate leaders because he was also front and center in the White House.
“My administration has taken action to end all discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion nonsense,” President Donald Trump said Thursday during a virtual appearance in Davos. “America will once again be a nation based on merit.”
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office addressed Enhance the federal government's diversity and inclusion programs. The order was written only to federal government employers, but he also mentioned extending his order to private institutions in his comments in Davos.
Following an executive order, his administration has as well targeted affirmative action in the federal contract AND Ordered all Federal DEI employees on paid leave.
On the ground in Davos, Dei has been the subject of conversation both on the record and behind closed doors, with discussions including the potential to abandon the commonly used acronym and change external communications around some of the principles.
Most corporate leaders who spoke to CNBC during the first four days of the summit reiterated that while the language may change and internal policies may be improved, the company's values will remain the same.
Here's what executives had to say:
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
“We will continue to reach out to the black community and the Latino community, the LGBT community and the veteran community. … Everywhere I go – red states, blue states – mayors, governors say we like what we do. So we. “I'm not trying to pander to any site or thing. We did, and what we did was lift up cities, schools, states, hospitals, countries, companies, and we will do the same. “
Adena Friedman, CEO of NASDAQ
“For Nasdaq, we really look at everything we do in building the right culture. We believe that a place where we believe that people can be themselves and can perform at their highest potential and have a diversity of views and diversity Because of it, we are better companies and it makes us perform that way. At the same time, I think there is an undercurrent that is still supportive.”
Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest
“People on our platform come from different backgrounds, from different walks of life, so we've been very focused on how we drive inclusion on our platform with things like inclusive AI, with things like 'diversity' in our feed… Nothing we're not changing) and the reason is because we've seen it leads to better engagement, there's consumer demand for it, it's good for our business.”
Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco
“I think what has happened is that Dei-branded initiatives have been particularly disliked. And I think that's why this whole thing has been blown up… if I'm sitting in a room to solve a complex problem Or I'm chasing a lot of diverse brains in this room and I don't care if it's overall diversity The pendulum has swung and I think, that it was a handful of issues that really triggered everything.”
Robert Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners
“I think diversity is a great thing in business. How should I know? Because I look at the data, I look at the facts. When we have diverse teams, our teams are more productive. We have lower risk. Actually, that they don't have diverse teams. Diversity in the work they do, in the products they deliver, and in the markets they serve will bring long-term… we will have to navigate through this, and there may be some regulations to change. Adjusting this, but people will do the right thing. “
Alexander Wang, CEO of Scales
“We operate in an extremely competitive and fast-moving industry in artificial intelligence, and I have no option but to hire the best and brightest and most capable people for every job in my company. As a result, we have no option but to be meritocratic… and thus we achieve diversity.”