By and large a buzzword that raises plenty of eyebrows, Artificial Intelligence (AI), has emerged as a disruptive force with the potential to revolutionise industries across the globe. For investors and shareholders, AI represents a compelling opportunity to not only reap financial rewards but also to participate in shaping the future of business and technology. There’s a myriad of benefits in investing in AI, including its potential for driving growth, improving efficiency, enhancing decision-making, and encouraging innovation. Companies leveraging AI technologies can expand their market share, unlock new revenue streams, and access new markets. The growth potential of AI extends to various sectors, from healthcare and banking to recruitment and insurance.
Efficiency is a key driver of profitability, and AI is a game-changer in this regard. Through automation and intelligent algorithms, businesses can streamline operations, reduce human error, and cut down on costs. This is perfectly illustrated with Calculus portfolio company, FISCAL Technologies, whose platform protects working capital by continuously preventing financial loss and eliminating supplier risk while maintaining regulatory compliance. The AI-based platform monitors transactional and supplier data for fraud, errors and duplicates and alerts the client immediately. This means that overpayments are prevented, discrepancies are resolved and your working capital is better protected. The earliest versions of their software incorporated machine-learning that could identify and highlight risks of fraud or error. In fact, in 2021, the Government recognised the challenges that the public sector and the NHS faced with fraud and they won a £500,000 government grant to take their AI fraud detection work to the next level.
Informed decision-making is the cornerstone of a company’s success, and AI can also play a pivotal role in this aspect. AI-driven analytics and predictive models empower companies to make data-driven decisions. Nowhere is this more important than healthcare where the right decisions can mean the difference between life and death. Another portfolio company, Spectral MD, is a medical imaging software and hardware provider which has developed prognosis software to identify non-healing wounds early in the treatment cycle ensuring better outcome for the patient and cost saving for the healthcare provider. Their patented DeepView technology is an AI wound diagnostics platform that combines AI algorithms and medical imaging for diagnostic wound healing predictions.
Investors understand the importance of competitive advantage in sustaining and growing a business. AI provides companies with a powerful tool to gain an edge over competitors. Whether it’s through personalized marketing or advanced data analysis, AI can help companies stay ahead of the curve. Hybrid TV and Advertising agency, Wonderhood Studios, has an AI data insights department which scrapes data from numerous sources (news websites, social listening feeds, etc.), providing insights into consumer behaviour and sentiment towards brands, creative campaigns, or TV shows. This competitive advantage has translated into a better understanding of what their audience wants providing for strong growth.
AI has a history of disrupting traditional business models which can result in the creation of entirely new markets or the transformation of existing ones. Investors who identify and back these innovative companies stand to benefit not only from potential capital appreciation but also from being part of groundbreaking change. A good example of this is Rotageek whose algorithm-based, AI driven, rota solutions assess five years of historic business data before forecasting future customer demand to a 15-minute level, by location, staff skill or product. Their innovative scheduling systems are used by some of the world’s leading businesses including William Hill, Sephora and Louis Vuitton.
Generative AI has also given rise to whole industries that have sprung up to counter its use. This is particularly the case in recruitment where the use of ChatGPT has broken traditional recruitment tools overnight and is causing employers to reassess text based application procedures (using CVs and cover letters; or text based psychometric testing), however Arctic Shores provides a new type of psychometric assessment to employers. The company’s assessment platform measures cognitive and personality traits of individuals through a series of tasks that test true human behaviour. Its assessments help employers to build a diverse and successful workforce, removing unconscious bias and helping organisations to widen their talent pools and unearth high-quality candidates who might have been missed by CV screening and traditional tests.
At Calculus we think it is impossible to ignore AI as a transformative force that will shape the future and it is very much integrated into several portfolio companies. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, those who embrace this technology should not only achieve strong returns, but also contribute to the advancement of the UK economy, society and the future as a whole.
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