What every CEO and deal team should know about generative AI
London | 9 May 2023
Together with our co-host STIFEL, we brought together 170+ Executives and leading Private Equity Funds and 20+ leading Growth Equity/Private Equity stage companies in London.
"AI EVERYWHERE" provided a unique platform for deep tech companies at the forefront of enabling technologies and enterprise software companies leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) in their offerings to come together and explore the vast potential of AI across various industries.
The conference covered four topics:
- AI & Managing Enterprise Risk
- AI for real-world applications
- AI in Healthcare: seeking adoption
- Enabling Human to Human Interaction
Our panel companies included acrolinx, causaLens, CotractpodAi, DentalMonitoring, Feature Space, Graphcore, Holmusk, PEAK, Parloa, Unbabel, Yoummday, ometria, and many more! Thank you to all panelists and other company participants for making this event a big success.
Dive into our summarized seven key insights, event impressions, and what every deal team should know about generative AI below!
Executive workshop format
What every CEO and deal team should know about generative AI
Book a 1-day workshop with our digital experts and understand the risk and opportunity of generative AI (like ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, Midjourney, and other tools) on deal-making and value-creation frameworks for your portfolio companies.
Key insights
1. LACK OF A C-SUITE-LED AI STRATEGY
Despite the buzz surrounding AI and its applications, many organizations have yet to fully grasp the strategic importance of developing a comprehensive AI strategy. A notable observation from the event was identifying the absence of a C-suite-led approach as a crucial factor contributing to this gap. With leadership actively championing the integration of AI into their organization's operations, decision-making processes, and overall strategic vision, companies may be able to fully harness the transformative power of AI across all its aspects.
2. FROM OPTIONAL ADVANTAGE TO NECESSARY ASSET
AI has become essential for companies to stay competitive and drive innovation. Companies that successfully implement AI strategies gain a competitive edge, responding swiftly to market dynamics and capitalizing on emerging opportunities.
Without an AI strategy, businesses risk falling behind their peers and missing out on valuable growth opportunities.
3. What will happen to the 24m+ software engineers globally?
The rise of AI-powered tools and platforms will enable individuals to communicate their desired outcomes to machines and generate software code automatically, fundamentally changing the traditional coding process. Software engineers will shift their focus to higher-level tasks like critical thinking, problem-solving, and guiding AI systems.
They will collaborate with experts to develop robust AI models, ensure ethical considerations, and integrate AI technologies into existing software infrastructure. Adapting to these changes and acquiring expertise in areas like machine learning and data science will be crucial for software engineers to thrive in an AI-driven future.
4. EUROPE IS FALLING BEHIND
In the realm of AI, both China and the USA have reached a similar level of sophistication, while Europe has fallen behind. At the same time, Europe's response to this challenge, primarily through regulation, may hinder innovation and further exacerbate competitive disadvantage.
While Europe's emphasis on law aims to address ethical concerns and ensure responsible AI deployment, excessive regulation can stifle technological advancements and impede Europe's ability to catch up with AI leaders, requiring a balance to be struck for effective competition.
5. search behavior is changing
In the next 3-5 years, we expect a substantial transformation in online customer targeting and a notable shift in marketing budget allocation. The evolving search behavior of customers drives this transformation, meaning businesses will need to adapt their marketing strategies to reach and engage their target audience online effectively.
With the rise of personalized search experiences and advances in data analytics, businesses will have the opportunity to tailor their marketing efforts to match individual customer preferences and behavior. Consequently, marketing budget allocation will likely be realigned to prioritize digital channels, data analysis, and technologies that enable precise customer targeting and engagement.
6. Big fish, small fish
The discussion with various AI-based businesses shed light on the current landscape, revealing that there is room for both big tech players and specialized AI companies. Although large universal models have their limitations in terms of efficiency and precision, by recognizing the advantages and limitations of different players in the AI landscape, businesses can make informed decisions about partnerships, investments, and the selection of AI solutions that best align with their specific objectives and requirements.
7. Slow Adoption by Healthcare
The healthcare system currently needs to grapple with significant structural shortages of crucial resources and a qualified workforce, posing challenges to the system's ability to meet the growing demand for healthcare services.
However, the inertia within the system is likely to contribute to longer adoption cycles for implementing necessary changes. In addition, the complex nature of the healthcare industry, with its complex regulatory frameworks and intricate workflows, can hinder the swift and agile adoption of innovative solutions and practices.
Thank you to our conference organizers, Ben Tompkins, Managing Director & Co-head Europe at Stifl, and Dr. Stefan Sambol, partner & co-founder at OMMAX!
About Stifel
Established in 1890, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is one of the nation’s premier full-service financial services firms, providing brokerage, trading, investment banking, investment advisory, and related services to individual investors, professional money managers, businesses, and municipalities through more than 390 locations across the nation.
Stifel ranks as the 7th largest brokerage firm in the country as measured by the number of financial advisors, with approximately 2,300, and features a highly regarded equity research department that has earned numerous accolades from such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Financial Times.
Stifel is the principal subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF), a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Stifel Financial Corp.'s other subsidiaries include Century Securities Associates, Inc., an independent contractor broker-dealer firm; Stifel Nicolaus Limited and Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited, the Company’s European subsidiaries; and Stifel Bank and Trust, a retail and commercial bank.
About OMMAX
"We believe everyone can become a digital leader."
We are a fast-growing digital strategy consultancy in Europe, specializing in transaction advisory, strategy, and end-to-end execution of digital initiatives. It’s our vision to build digital leaders in Europe to foster innovation and accelerate digital growth and profitability.
We see "Digital" as a key enabler across all companies and industries that has an impact at three different levels of organizations:
1) Individuals: the Board, Deal Teams, C-Suite, and Management teams should develop digital skills in their respective roles.
2) Business functions: digital can enable sophisticated Business Strategy, Go-to-market (Marketing & Sales Excellence), Controlling, Operations, and Supply Chains.
3) Companies: the company can develop a digital-first strategy and operating model.
In +1500 international value creation projects in various industries for leading private equity firms in commercial strategy, digital operational excellence, advanced data strategy, analytics, tech, and automation, we witnessed that digital drives everything from incremental improvement (accelerating growth and profitability) through to radical business model transformation.
As a front-runner for holistic data-driven strategy consulting and end-to-end execution, we are the leading consultancy within the European Private Equity sphere, designing and delivering best-in-class digital strategy and value creation.
Contact Us