Traditional venture capitalists have always been quick to claim that investing in winning startups is a distinctly human, intuitive practice – more art than science.

But while venture investors scour the tech ecosystem for high-impact, disruptive companies to back, the industry itself is now facing disruption of its own.

As AI continues to reshape global markets, it is forcing VCs to reconsider how they source, select, and manage investments. And with new algorithmically driven funds starting to emerge, some have begun to question whether human investors even have a future.

I count myself among the traditionalists on the question of who is best placed to judge early-stage investments. But I also believe it is essential that investors adopt AI within their working lives. Without it, they risk being permanently outflanked by peers who can move faster, surface better insights – and operate with greater strategic precision.

From gut instinct to guided insight

Within our firm, AI is already embedded in many aspects of day-to-day work. It helps us scan markets, assess pitch decks, benchmark startups against peers, and interrogate financial models. Real-time data processing lets us evaluate growth patterns, unit economics, customer sentiment, and pricing trends – faster and more thoroughly than ever before. That is a game-changer when you are reviewing hundreds of decks in a compressed timeframe.  

But like any tool, the value of AI depends on how it’s used. The key skill for today’s investor is not data entry – it is question design. Poorly framed queries deliver poor results. This is where domain expertise matters.

Investors with deep sector knowledge are better equipped to guide AI models toward meaningful outputs.

Which is why we still need to steward junior colleagues to become real investors – teaching them to think, question, and interpret, not just crunch data.

Rethinking the analyst’s role

The nature of junior roles in venture is already shifting. Associates and analysts who once spent hours gathering data or producing market maps are now using AI to do much of the heavy lifting. What remains is the work that matters most: judgment, insight, and communication.  

That demands a higher level of domain fluency than was previously expected. But it doesn’t mean we’ll need fewer people. We’ll need smarter ones – those who can validate insights, apply context, and ask better questions. The analyst of the future isn’t a spreadsheet jockey; they are a strategist fluent in AI tools and sector nuance alike.

AI can’t read the room

For all its utility, AI has limits. No model can assess a founder’s resilience, leadership ability, or cultural awareness. These are often the traits that make or break a company – and they only reveal themselves through real conversations, shared history, and instinct sharpened over years.

There are no dashboards for that. AI can highlight trends and flag anomalies. But it can’t replace human intuition when it comes to founder dynamics.

Selection is just the start

AI helps us spot promising startups earlier. But its value extends across the full investment lifecycle. Due diligence can be streamlined – legal docs, financials, and customer feedback processed automatically. Portfolio monitoring is becoming more predictive, with real-time alerts on performance trends and risk factors.  

AI can even help us forecast downstream capital availability by analyzing LP behavior, macroeconomic signals, and historical funding patterns.

This improves our ability to manage risk, support companies, and allocate time and capital more effectively. But again, AI does not make the decision. It sharpens the decision-maker.

Use AI as we expect others to

One of the first things we now ask founder teams is: how are you using AI in your business? Those that treat it as an add-on raise red flags. The best teams are integrating AI into their product development, customer experience, and decision-making – unlocking efficiencies and building real defensibility.

It is ironic, then, that many VCs still have not applied the same scrutiny to their own operations. We demand innovation from the companies we back, but often fail to embed those expectations in-house. At best, this is a missed opportunity. At worst, it means we risk falling behind – and missing out on the most forward-thinking deals.

A human-centric future, underpinned by smarter technology

Much has been said about AI replacing white-collar jobs. But venture capital is not going anywhere. The role will evolve. The expectations will change.

But the core of what we do – pattern recognition, judgment, backing people – is still fundamentally human.

AI is a catalyst, not a replacement.

The future of venture is not man versus machine – it is man with machine. And the investors who understand this early will be the ones best placed to lead.

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