Cover Manuela Buerki explains how machine intelligence can help make the world a better place (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
Manuela Buerki explains how machine intelligence can help make the world a better place (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
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Lawyer by training, venture capitalist by trade, Buerki talks start-ups, AI and maximising success
IMS Digital Ventures partners with visionary entrepreneurs to launch tech start-ups that leverage AI and blockchain. Founding member of the Hong Kong venture capital firm, Manuela Buerki gained a degree in law from London’s UCL before studying for a master’s in risk management and financial regulation at the esteemed Sciences Po Paris. After everything from negotiating Europe’s venture capital regulations for the French Market Authority to lobbying about liquidity ratios on behalf of the Bank of England, Buerki helps start-ups navigate an ever-changing tech regulatory environment as IMS Digital Ventures’ head of strategy.
Since as early as the 1920s, Hollywood has captured our imagination through science-fiction stories that explore the boundaries of human nature and intelligent machines. Here, Buerki decodes AI fact from fiction and explores how machine intelligence can help make the world a better place.
Above Manuela Buerki (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
Manuela Buerki (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
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The folklore around AI is a man-versus-machine thriller. How different is AI in the real world?
Computers going rogue is as unlikely as time-travelling robot assassins—sorry, Arnie! We have nothing more to fear from the tech behind AI than we do from the tech behind our hair dryers.
There’s a lot of hype around AI being a panacea for all our problems. And while it does have huge potential—like being used to manage sustainability in agriculture or to improve energy management in cities—I think its most fascinating side is how it permeates our daily life. AI is remarkably banal compared to what we see in films. You use it so much in your daily life, you forget how omnipresent it is—from how you discover new music to how you check the grammar on your email.
So, to you, what’s the most exciting thing about AI?
We’re just getting started. ChatGPT is an example of how we’re at the opening credits for the story of humanity and AI.
For companies, it’s an opportunity to create a distinct competitive advantage. For countries, AI has replaced the space race as the new frontier. Governments in key markets are fostering pro-innovation regulatory regimes to encourage responsible and creative tech development. This decentralisation is crucial if we want to harness the benefits of AI.
Our two leading offices—Hong Kong and London—are located in markets which are taking a favourable approach to AI innovation, as well as blockchain and crypto. Last year, for example, Rishi Sunak, the UK’s prime minister, positioned the country as a hub for Web3 innovation. This year, the British government released a white paper setting the scene for a pro-innovation regulatory approach to AI.
Working in the start-up scene is arguably the best way to experience the possibilities these ground-breaking tech trends hold for our future.
What role does venture capital play in shaping the future of AI?
It’s not an exaggeration to say that venture capital will make or break our future. Today’s entrepreneurs are using tech to solve tomorrow’s problems. And venture capital is critical to bringing those ideas to life.
As a venture builder, we don’t just invest our capital. We also invest our expertise in bringing an idea to market, developing a minimum viable product and rolling out an effective go-to-market strategy. This allows us to de-risk the launch phase for AI start-ups and maximise their chances of success.
How is IMS Digital Ventures positioning itself for the future?
We are interested in sizeable markets where real tech can solve relevant problems. Property Raptor is one of the ventures I am working on; it uses AI to improve agent productivity in the real estate market. Owlgaze, another portfolio company, uses AI to detect cybersecurity threats before they even happen.
A lot of start-ups use AI imitators that are actually conditional programming. We’ve honed true, game-changing AI and other expertise to catapult companies into market leaders. We believe that tech start-ups are at the forefront of the AI revolution. It’s the amalgamation of industry expertise, user experience design and AI that creates something so special.
In terms of what’s next, we’re looking to invest in some of the region’s hottest climate change start-ups. Our vision is to build a profitable portfolio of ventures that align with our values as a team.
Find out more about the ventures in the IMS portfolio.
