Emerging technology can create enormous possibilities, but identifying an interesting technology is only the beginning of the investment process. For investors, the harder task is determining whether that technology can become a meaningful business, whether the people behind it can execute, and whether the opportunity can remain relevant as markets and technologies evolve.

The People Behind the Technology Can Make or Break the Opportunity

For early-stage technologies, investors often have limited commercial evidence to work with. There may be an impressive technology or research breakthrough, but relatively little revenue, customer history or market data. In this environment, the people responsible for turning the technology into a business become a particularly important part of the investment equation.

Pasi Pohjala, Founder and CEO at ATG Consulting, from Finland spoke about the importance of getting to know founders and understanding whether they have the energy and commitment required to build a company. He also discussed the challenge of commercializing technologies that originate in universities. Researchers can develop highly promising technologies without necessarily wanting to take on the risks involved in entrepreneurship, which can make the development of the right founding team an important step in the commercialization process.

For Pasi, the assessment therefore goes beyond the technical idea. The ability of the people behind it to build, adapt and pursue the opportunity is an essential part of determining whether the technology can move from an idea toward a real business. He said, “Team is definitely an important factor.”

Start With the Problem, Not the Technology

Technological novelty can easily become the focus of an investment conversation, particularly when a company operates in an emerging field. But a sophisticated technology does not automatically mean there is a sufficiently valuable market for it. Investors also need to understand what problem is being solved and whether customers genuinely need the solution.

An investor from the United States described an approach that deliberately places the business problem ahead of the technology. Her perspective was that investors should not become overly impressed simply because something is technologically advanced. The problem being solved, the entrepreneur behind the business and the company's ability to operate efficiently all form part of the investment assessment.

This perspective also recognizes how quickly technology can evolve. A company may not incorporate a particular technology today and still have the ability to adopt it later. What matters first is whether the underlying business problem is meaningful and whether the company has the ability to build a commercially viable solution around it. She said, “We are not too enamored by the technology. We go by the business problem that is getting solved.”

The Investment Thesis Can Change Faster Than Expected

The speed of technological development is creating a different challenge for investors: assumptions that appear reasonable today may not remain valid for long. Artificial intelligence in particular is developing rapidly, while regulation and infrastructure are also evolving around it. Companies operating in these markets may therefore have to adjust their strategies much more frequently than businesses in more established sectors.

An investor from the United States discussed this changing environment from the perspective of his own investment experience. He observed that companies are pivoting at a pace he has rarely seen before, reflecting how quickly the technological and commercial environment can change. For investors, this places greater importance on the ability of founders and management teams to recognize when their original assumptions are no longer valid.

He also pointed to regulation as an area of uncertainty surrounding new technologies. The eventual regulatory environment is not always clear at the time an investment is made, meaning investors have to consider how changes in regulation and technological capabilities could affect the businesses they back. He said, “The investments I have, the companies are pivoting at a pace that I've really never seen before.”

AI Has Transformed the Investor's Access to Information

Artificial intelligence is not only creating new investment opportunities; it is also changing how investors research those opportunities. Information that previously required significant amounts of time to collect and analyze can now be accessed much faster. For investors looking across different countries and markets, this can substantially expand the number of companies and technologies they are able to investigate.

Craig Astill, Founder of Castill Group Family Office, from Australia described how AI has changed this process from his perspective. Information that could previously take days, weeks or even months to obtain can now be gathered within minutes. This creates a significant advantage for investors trying to understand unfamiliar companies or markets and can make international research considerably more accessible.

However, Craig also emphasized that greater speed does not mean perfect information. AI remains dependent on the information available to it, and companies with limited digital footprints can still be difficult to evaluate. The technology can dramatically improve the research process, but it does not remove the need for investor judgment or eliminate information gaps. He said, “AI is reliant on what we put into it. If it's rubbish in, it's going to be rubbish out.” 

What This Means for the Next Generation of Technology Investments

The discussion highlighted that successful technology investing goes beyond innovation itself, requiring investors to consider the people behind the opportunity, the problem being solved, adaptability, capital efficiency and the quality of available information. As AI continues to accelerate both technological development and investment research, participants emphasized the continued importance of human judgment in navigating uncertainty and identifying opportunities with lasting commercial potential.