by - Companies must get on board AI quickly if they want to stay competitive, says Ark Invest’s Brett Winton.
- The AI transition is being driven by a stressed corporate landscape, providing low-cost solutions.
- Microsoft will compete with Google in the long run, despite higher costs for AI search engines.
Artificial intelligence can be the catalyst for a make-or-break era in the corporate world.
That’s according to Ark Invest’s Chief Futuresman, Brett Winton, who told CNBC on Wednesday that companies that don’t start integrating new technology early could fall behind and even risk bankruptcy as they compete with those that do.
“If you’re not running that race, you’re not going to be in the race by the end of this business cycle,” he said.
Driven in part by headline AI developments from the likes of Microsoft and Google, Winton believes the technology’s takeover is also fueled by current macroeconomic issues facing corporations.
“Corporate budgets are probably under stress right now they can evaluate: ‘Hey, how can we do more with the same number of employees? How can we better serve our customers or execute sales better not to add to our expense line?” he said. “AI provides that solution.”
While he thinks the systems already have a lot of potential to use – even pointing out that businesses like Coca Cola have started to incorporate AI – Winton says progress is only going to come as costs fall.
“It’s the equivalent of the entire life cycle of the smartphone – taking the original smartphone to today’s iPhone – and compressing it into three years in terms of capability advancement,” he said.
The pivot to AI also means changes in the search engine hierarchy, Winton said, referring to Google and Microsoft’s development race.
While the new AI-assisted Bing may mean higher costs for Microsoft compared to traditional internet search, he says the company’s introduction of the technology will unseat Google as the dominant search engine in the long term.
Currently, Microsoft shares are down nearly 7% from a February high of $272 per share that followed the Bing AI-centric update. The company continues to advance the technology, recently announcing that new search engine capabilities will be available on mobile phones.
