June 6 2023

Pareto Securities' Artificial Intelligence Seminar: AI = Attractive Investment?

Is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space undergoing a revolution, or are we simply witnessing computers with more data and processing capacity? We asked industry leaders Microsoft, Crayon, Cognite and Ayfie to share relevant use cases on how to leverage AI to create higher returns. Learn more about the key takeaways from their presentations at a recent lunch seminar for Pareto Securities’ clients.

AI Seminar

On Monday, June 5, 2023, we hosted a lunch seminar dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI), featuring presentations from Microsoft, Crayon, Cognite, and Ayfie, all leading within AI and Big Data. They showcased how they harness AI to create significant shareholder value, and our technology research analyst Fridtjof Semb Fredricsson shared Pareto Securities' view on the market and investment opportunities.

From Microsoft's role in AI adoption to Crayon's customisation of AI solutions and Cognite's emphasis on asset-heavy industries to Ayfie's AI-powered information retrieval, these companies exemplify the potential of AI in driving innovation and productivity across sectors.

As AI continues to evolve, understanding its nuances and deploying it effectively will be key to unlocking its full potential for businesses and shareholders alike.

Microsoft: At the Core of Current Development in AI

Already in 2016, CEO Satya Nadella expressed that AI is a mega-trend the company will not miss out on. Back in 2019, Microsoft invested in OpenAI and today holds 49% of the shares in the company that, for the first time, offered AI technology on a large scale to consumers.

Microsoft’s National Technology Officer Christopher Frenning confirmed the widespread, rapid adoption of ChatGPT. Currently, the software has been tested by half of the employees in developed markets. And, on average, they are willing to pay about 0.5% of their salary to keep using the software.

Other examples of Microsoft’s AI efforts are with their co-pilots and through the Bing search engine. GitHub Copilot is the first widely used AI-based co-pilot and illustrates how AI can access a large database like GitHub with open-source code to help programmers increase efficiency and debug code. Bing uses AI to understand the context of its sources and hence to display the most relevant sources based on context as opposed to keywords only.

Crayon: Purpose-built AI Solutions

The platform-agnostic IT consultant Crayon leverage solutions from major players like Microsoft and Amazon. They match standardised products with the end-users and provide customisation options. Currently, Crayon has an AI team consisting of approximately 140 employees, 80% of whom hold PhDs.

Crayon’s CEO Melissa Mulholland explained how AI could help the company with its internal processes but also generate demand for their services as adoption increase, and businesses need help to implement tools from, e.g., Microsoft.

An example of this value-add is demonstrated in their work with a customer in the kitchen design sector in Germany. By leveraging AI tools, Crayon helped customers design personalised kitchens based on individual preferences, thereby generating more business opportunities.

Cognite: Empowering Asset-Heavy Industries with AI

Industrial software pioneer Cognite develops a platform specialising in data collection and storage for asset-heavy industries such as oil and gas, manufacturing, and renewables. Cognite's primary value proposition lies in ensuring the availability of high-quality data, which directly impacts the effectiveness of AI models.

AI both facilitates access to Cognite's data and enhances its usability. Cognite’s Vice President of Business Development Andreas Prøsch underlined how AI co-pilots are not limited to office workers but are equally relevant for industry workers.

Engineers, for instance, can rely on AI systems to understand their specific information requirements, making the retrieval process more efficient than traditional dashboard systems.

Ayfie: Unlocking Business Insights with AI

Norway-based Ayfie provides digital services related to data search, risk, and compliance. Functioning as an internal search engine, their software provide access to companies’ own internal documents and information across various systems.

Through the integration of AI models, Ayfie enhances user interactions by providing an interface to existing solutions lacking AI capabilities. Moreover, AI models can comprehend the semantic meaning of data sources and determine their relevance in search queries. Over time, AI models can synthesise data from multiple internal sources, eliminating the need for manual information gathering by humans.

Over time, AI models can synthesise data from multiple internal sources, eliminating the need for manual information gathering by humans, CEO Herman Sjøberg said during his presentation.

Pareto Securities’ AI perspectives

Technology equity research analyst Fridtjof Semb Fredricsson highlighted how over 90% of Fortune 1000 businesses have already begun investing in AI and that the technology is expected to see ~40% annual growth until 2030. AI is transforming sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail, driving innovation and reshaping business models. Especially within labour-intensive industries, the potential productivity gain from using AI is substantial.

AI-related stocks have contributed close to all the S&P 500 gains so far this year. Fredricsson pointed out the importance of walking the walk and not just talking the talk – exemplified by NVIDIAs strong AI-driven share price development and Buzzfeed’s share price punishment after not delivering on AI promises.

Podcast: Microsoft on AI opportunities

In our Norwegian podcast, Microsoft’s Christopher Frenning elaborated on the use cases for their AI solutions and the many possibilities and challenges with increased AI adoption with Sebastian Baartvedt from our Equity Sales division and our technology equity analyst:

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