Investing in the next wave of AI breakthroughs
AI has promised to transform entire industries, boosting productivity by streamlining operations, automating tasks and bolstering decision-making with data-driven insights.
But it’s full-fledged integration into the workplace is still a work in progress.
While advances in AI are moving at breakneck speed, businesses are grappling with challenges, from efficiently integrating Large Language Models to implementing user-friendly AI tools across the company. While two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies mentioned AI in their most recent investor reports, a survey conducted by Infosys shows only two percent of enterprises have the skills and tools in place to successfully implement AI products.
The question now isn’t whether AI can revolutionize the workplace and change the nature of work, it’s how quickly and effectively companies can make it happen.
Our Tech Investments team – part of Liberty Growth – has been actively exploring investment opportunities in AI, identifying bold ideas and opportunities that drive transformation and shape the industry’s future. As we look ahead into 2025, AI continues to be a priority alongside cloud, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
Here’s a look at core themes we think are ripe for innovation.
From hype to reality: Scaling AI for everyday business needs
From building faster, more efficient model training systems to developing AI tools that teams can adopt with ease, innovators are shaping the future of artificial intelligence by focusing on key priority areas:
Faster Model Training for Faster Deployment
Training a large language model (LLM) can take several months, depending on the model size and available processing power. This foundational step involves teaching an AI system to understand, generate, and analyze human language by exposing it to vast amounts of data.
It’s resource-heavy and time-consuming, making this pivotal step a barrier to deployment. But startups are stepping in to bridge the gap, working with businesses to create bespoke enterprise-specific models that are smaller in size and take just days to weeks to train. As a result, they’re paving the way to deploying AI solutions that much faster, and helping enterprises stay competitive in fast-moving markets.
Vertical AI applications – for every department
Many of the AI-driven tools on the market right now are built by engineers for engineers, but for AI to truly transform workplaces, it needs to work for everyone.
This is another area where we see AI founders developing solutions for today’s needs, emphasizing AI platforms that are intuitive to use, require minimal onboarding, and can be adopted by less technical users. Overall, their aim is to launch AI tools that are frictionless and can easily integrate into existing workflows.
Tools to help organizations apply their data at scale
Businesses are spending an enormous amount of time cleaning, formatting and preparing their data so that it can be used by AI applications. It’s a well-intentioned move as organizations want to design platforms with their niche datasets, but it’s creating a major bottleneck with enterprises spending upwards of 80 percent of their time sifting through this unstructured data. We’re seeing startups develop tools to help companies filter, process and prepare data faster.
Creating a safe environment for AI in production
By prioritizing safety and trust, businesses can mitigate risks, enhance user confidence, and ensure the long-term success of their AI products. Unsafe AI increases the risk of reputational damage to brands and has the potential to erode consumer confidence. Businesses also need to factor in bias, fairness and ethical considerations when deploying AI products. And lastly, governments worldwide are introducing AI regulations and non-compliance could have severe financial implications.
We think 2025 will see innovation around safety and trust to help further the adoption of AI.
At the centre of tech innovation and collaboration
In 2024, we launched our Founders dinner series with the goal of bringing like-minded entrepreneurs together to discuss the challenges businesses are facing in adopting AI.
Our first dinner was in partnership with Nokia Growth Partners and Silicon Valley Bank, focused on responsible AI and cybersecurity, uniting entrepreneurs shaping the future of this segment of the industry.
The second such event brought together a dozen of the industry’s brightest early stage thought leaders tackling today’s most pressing challenges in scaling enterprise AI. The dinner, hosted in partnership with WndrCo – a premier venture capital firm founded by DreamWorks and Disney executive, Jeffrey Katzenberg – shone a light on the key issues enterprise AI founders are focusing on solving to transition AI seamlessly into existing workflows.
The Founders series, which will continue in 2025, is more than just networking — it’s our way of staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving tech ecosystem, connecting the founders shaping tomorrow and leveraging their insights to stay ahead in the AI revolution.
It’s a conversation we’re continuing at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, where our Liberty Growth team – and some of our investments – are meeting with startups, industry leaders, and innovators driving the next wave of AI, cloud, and connectivity advancements.
At Liberty Global, we’re integrating innovations in AI throughout our business. It’s enabling exceptional customer service within our brands, shaping our best-in-class products and services, and driving network efficiency across our operating companies. We’re also investing in upskilling our workforce, ensuring we stay ahead of the curve in next-generation technology. And these events allow us to be strategic value-added investors, partnering with our portfolio companies to help them scale alongside us.
Stay tuned as we continue to invest – and lead the way – in new frontiers of innovation.
