Insights
By: Richard Hill
In the AI era it’s not enough to be second or third – Young Sohn
To get ahead in the race to leverage fast-emerging AI opportunities, you must nurture the right relationships early on, according to Young Sohn, Co-Founding Managing Partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures (WCV) and Chairman of Samsung’s Semiconductor Advisory Board.
His experience in the deep tech space has taught Young a crucial lesson. “The most important outcome is winner takes all,” he told guests at a fireside chat with Stonehage Fleming’s Richard Hill, Head of Private Markets Advisory.
Young highlighted WCV’s unique ‘ecosystem’ approach, by which his team leverages relationships with academics, strategic investors, and industry partners to identify promising opportunities early and support companies from formation to scaling.
Young Sohn (Left) reflects on emerging trends in Deep Tech
Huge advancements in artificial intelligence are on the horizon, explained Young. “Fields like drug development and legal applications will require the parallel processing of vast data. In the next decade, the emphasis will shift towards specialised large language models tailored for enterprise applications. These will result in innovations that will shape the landscape for many industries including the growing electric vehicles sector.”
Despite the positives of the huge uptake of new technologies, the surge in AI adoption presents new challenges for the environment, cautioned Young. “The growing use of these technologies, including the movement and storage of data in vast quantities, results in significant increases in power consumption. This highlights the need for innovations in materials, packaging, and cooling systems.”
According to Young, quantum computing is in its early stages like the semiconductor industry in the 1960s, showing potential for significant future applications. “Ultimately, the next phase of technology heavyweights will need to address problems related to power, distance and speed. In this era of constant change, it isn’t enough to be second or third. Our goal is to ask: What’s coming? Who has the best team? Only then can we capitalise on what we learn and build great companies.”