VAR Capital organises webinar on the future of the world with AI

VAR Capital hosted a webinar on Artificial Intelligence. Once just a buzzword, AI is now becoming deeply integrated into our daily lives—from the way we interact with technology to how businesses operate and make decisions.

In this session, we explored the fundamentals of AI, its real-world applications, and the profound impact it is set to have across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, and beyond. We also discussed how VAR Capital’s clients are capitalising on the AI revolution and how VAR Capital is incorporating AI-driven strategies into our portfolios.

Meet the Speakers:

Anshul Rustaggi – AI Entrepreneur & Innovator

Former hedge fund manager turned AI entrepreneur, Anshul is the founder of Totality Corp, a company pioneering AI-driven products for the future. He is also the CEO of Greenr.com, an AI-powered climate solutions company. Anshul is a recognised thought leader in AI, regularly speaking at industry events and training AI enthusiasts at major firms, including Google.

Jonathan Eldridge – Investment Director, VAR Capital

Jonathan recently joined VAR Capital as an Investment Director, specialising in technology sector investments. With extensive experience managing institutional capital, Jonathan has previously worked with sovereign wealth funds and a U.S.-based hedge fund, overseeing investments for pension and endowment clients. His expertise lies in identifying emerging trends and opportunities within the evolving tech landscape, including AI and its impact on financial markets.

A copy of the presentation can be downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J_vfPA7ZpGPrK_1sxYrZeNO0y-ElM8T-/view?usp=drive_link

Video recording:

Meeting notes for the event:

Introduction

• Hosts: Anshul, Jonathan, and Vikash
• Focus: Exploration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in investing and its expansive implications across various industries.

Welcome and Setup

• Vikash officially welcomes all attendees and panelists, establishing a friendly and engaging atmosphere for the session.
• A discussion is held regarding the technical setup to ensure a smooth experience for participants.
• Emphasis on a slight delay in starting the presentations, allowing latecomers to join without missing critical dialogue.
• Vikash briefly outlines the protocol for handoffs between speakers to maintain seamless transitions during the event.

Overview of AI and Investing

• Anshul introduces the core subject of the panel: generative AI and its future implications in investing.
• The presentation is framed within the context of AI being highlighted as a transformative technology, particularly in the lead-up to NVIDIA’s latest earnings report, accentuating the market’s anticipation and relevance.

AI Evolution

Technology Automation vs. Traditional AI vs. Generative AI

• Technology Automation:
  • Defined as utilizing predefined business logic to automate specific processes that require no human intervention (e.g., tools like Calendly that schedule meetings).
• Traditional AI:
  • Focuses on numerical data analysis and basic pattern recognition, still necessitating human input for full functionality.
• Generative AI:
  • Represents an advanced iteration of AI capable of creating and reasoning about business logic without predefined rules. This category enables interactive outputs that leverage human language as both input and output, significantly enhancing user experiences.

Generative AI’s Capabilities

• Produces outputs that are human-readable, including text, images, and videos.
• Facilitates interaction via conversational interfaces, improving engagement with users.
• Showcases significant advancements: a remarkable reduction in performance error rates (or hallucinations) from 20% to less than 2%, indicating enhanced reliability.

Real-World Applications of Generative AI

• Enhances personalization within customer experiences, making interactions more tailored and effective.
• Incorporates chatbots and virtual assistants aimed at mental health support, travel planning, and other applications, demonstrating versatility.
• Develops frameworks for AI that teach it to reason and solve problems akin to human thought processes.

Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Trained on extensive datasets gathered from the internet, allowing them to understand and process language context.
• Key players in this arena include well-known entities like ChatGPT by OpenAI, Google, etc.
• LLMs possess the potential for real-time data retrieval, further enhancing the quality of interactions during engagements.

Generative AI Agents

• Introduces the concept of AI functioning as digital humans endowed with agency and reasoning capabilities.
• These agents can adapt and learn from previous interactions, continuously improving both efficiency and effectiveness in various tasks.

Industry Applications

• Customer Service and Support:
  • Current utilization of AI within banking, finance, and legal industries for providing personalized services.
• Climate Solutions:
  • Presentation of “Greener” initiative: designing automated systems for climate education and engagement while generating social media content from extensive reports autonomously.
• Legal Applications:
  • Simulation of courtroom scenarios using AI agents, serving as adversaries and judges for educational and training purposes.

Anshul’s Presentation Highlights

• Delivered an overview of AI’s potential impact across various sectors, stressing the importance of ongoing human oversight to harmonize automation with qualitative outcomes.

Jonathan’s Presentation: AI Impact on Global Economy

Economic Impact Estimates

• Previous analyses suggest that AI could contribute trillions to the global GDP by 2030, highlighting its transformative potential.

Industries Affected by AI

• Key sectors vulnerable to AI integration include:
  • Healthcare: Innovations in drug discovery and diagnostics.
  • Financial Services: Enhancements in portfolio management and risk assessment.
  • Manufacturing: Implementations of predictive maintenance protocols.

AI Value Chain Overview

• Model Builders: Involves AI developers and organizations such as OpenAI.
• Hardware Providers: Companies like NVIDIA, focusing on High-Performance Computing (HPC).
• Infrastructure Providers: Cloud service platforms such as AWS and Google Cloud.
• Applications: Businesses integrating AI into their products, including but not limited to Salesforce and ServiceNow.

Investment Implications

• Evaluation of VAR Capital’s investment strategies targeted across the overarching AI value chain.
• Specific mentions of included companies encompass Microsoft, NVIDIA, ASML, as well as industry applications like Netflix, Accenture, and GE Healthcare, illustrating diverse investment opportunities.

Q&A Session

• Engaged audience members with inquiries about the implications of generative AI on wealth management practices.
• Discussed critical aspects regarding risk management and potential data breaches originating from AI technologies.

Conclusion

• Provided a recap of AI’s transformative capacity while addressing the associated risks and challenges.
• Announced the availability of webinar recordings and outlined next steps for follow-up discussions regarding ongoing developments in the AI space.

VAR Capital is an independent financial services firm offering asset management, lending and family office services. It was founded by individuals with extensive experience from Banking, Asset Management and Family Offices. Based in Mayfair, London, VAR Capital Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Source: VAR Capital

Media Contact: Vikash Gupta, vikash@varcapital.co.uk