Latest news with #industrial revolution
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
ANNE ASHWORTH reveals the benefits of investing in UK firms
To date, the undisputed leaders of the artificial intelligence industrial revolution have been US tech titans like the mighty Microsoft and Nvidia. But also in contention are a group of FTSE 100 firms that are deploying AI to make the maximum use of data for the benefit of grateful customers. These British 'tech-enabled' names include Auto Trader, the £7.2billion online car marketplace, and Experian the £49.9billion credit information group. Also on the British 'tech-enabled' list is the property portal Rightmove on whose app and website the nation spends close to 17billion minutes every year. It makes sense to wager on the Magnificent Seven of tech. But there is also a strong argument for diversifying into the British names making strides in AI. This week, the FTSE 100 has reached a record high. The index could scale further heights, if the recognition grows that Britain is not being left behind in the AI revolution. If you want to take advantage of this disruption, here are some of the shares to back. AUTO TRADER There are 81m visits every month to the Auto Trader website, the largest in the market thanks to its compendious data on every aspect of a new or second-hand vehicle. The company has been dubbed the 'king of the virtual forecourt'. In 2024, the company introduced CoDriver, a range of AI-powered products that make searching easier and adverts look more attractive. Ben Derber, analyst at Rathbones Investment Management, says CoDriver is helping retailers get their adverts live more quickly, leading to consistently high levels of engagement from customers. Auto Trader is seen as a quality company, with its good cash flow and an impressive ROCE (return on capital employed); this is a measure of how a business uses its capital to produce profits. These factors suggest that it is the kind of business that belongs in your portfolio for the long-term. The share price is 835.8p. Analysts have set a target price of 853p, with the most optimistic forecasting a rise to 1040p. But, in the near future, the shares may pause for breath because Auto Trader's ARPR – average revenue per retailer – is disappointing at present. A shortage of used cars means that they are selling faster than before. EXPERIAN Experian moved beyond being just a credit reference agency to become a business that empowers lenders in the UK, Europe, US, Latin America, India and Singapore to make better decisions. Matt Britzman of Hargreaves Lansdown says: 'Experian is a global information services company specialising in data analytics, credit reporting, and identity verification.' But borrowers also want a good deal and Experian is exploiting this opportunity. Britzman adds: 'With financial literacy becoming more widespread, Experian is well-positioned to capitalise, offering tools that empower consumers to manage their credit and financial health more effectively.' As Derber points out, Experian has been using AI for more than a decade, and is now working with generative AI to offer digital assistant services to consumers and banks and finance firms. Nine of the 17 analysts that follow Experian rate the shares – which stand at 4056p – a 'buy'. Recently, Bank of America has raised its target price to 4900p, while Goldman Sachs is even more enthusiastic, setting a target of 5550p. LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has hit the headlines this month over a proposed plan to provide 24-hour trading – a result of pressure from small investors who want to buy and sell stocks at all hours, apparently. But the operation of the London bourse, although vital to the UK economy, is a minor activity for LSEG when compared with the selling of financial data to banks, brokers and others. The supply of this information will be vastly increased thanks to a ten-year partnership with Microsoft in which generative AI is playing a crucial role. Matthew Page, manager of the Guinness Global Innovators Fund says that the link with Microsoft gives LSEG 'serious competitive advantage' since it can embed cutting-edge generative AI into its products. Microsoft has a 4 per cent stake in LSEG. This vote of confidence may be one of the reasons why analysts rate the shares a 'buy'. The price is 10,090p, with the most optimistic brokers targeting 12,600p. RELX Until a decade ago Relx (pronounced Rel-ex) was known as Reed Elsevier. The change of name reflected the move from publishing into analytics, for which demand continues to grow – especially when that data is amplified by AI. Relx is a vital source for scientific researchers suffering from information overload. But there is a particular clamour, too, for the legal research tool Lexis+. AI is also accelerating growth at Relx's risk division. This arm of the £70.99billion business caters for companies that want to prevent digital fraud. But Relx is not just about analytics, it is one of the world's top events organisers, running exhibitions and shows in 25 countries. Analysts are positive about Relx's prospects, rating the shares a 'buy' with an average target price of 4428p, against the current 3937p. JP Morgan is even more sanguine about Relx's future, having raised its target price from 4630p to 4890p earlier this month. RIGHTMOVE The British are already obsessed with property. But, as Derber explains, Rightmove is deepening the connection through AI, introducing internal improvements in the speed of the introduction of new features, and supplying such extras as personalised property recommendations. He expects that the £6.1billion company, founded in 2020, will unveil further ways to ensure that we spend even more of our lives on Rightmove. The most popular moment to visit the website or app is 8.59am on Monday morning, as people start work but seek consolation in pictures of desirable residences. Rightmove shares have risen by 21 per cent this year to 780.4p, spurred by hopes that an easing of interest rates will encourage house hunters. Analysts rate shares a 'hold' since future growth is already priced into the stock. But Duncan Green, manager of the Schroder UK Multi-Cap Income Fund, which owns a slice of Rightmove, makes the case for the shares. He considers the company to deliver 'a rare level of efficiency and profitability', while also offering an income through dividends and share buybacks. If AI is making you and your friends look at Rightmove even more than before, consider taking a chance on the shares on the basis that others will be doing the same.
Forbes
20-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Proper Adoption Of AI Requires A Fundamental Change In Culture
AI arguably represents the most fundamental technological change since the arrival of early ... More mainframe computers. For months now, there has been almost constant coverage of AI and the potentially transformative role it could play in fields as wide-ranging as professional services and healthcare. But in recent weeks that attention seems to have intensified, as even the political classes wake up to the possible impact. On consecutive days last week, for example, the Financial Times carried opinion articles suggesting that, first, politicians must overcome their insecurity over technology matters and make a significant contribution to the debate over future developments, and, second, that they needed to be aware of the ramifications if anything like the predicted numbers of white-collar job losses come to fruition. Now, it is, of course, possible that this is all over-dramatic and that the AI revolution will, like the industrial revolution before it, create all kinds of jobs that we are now only just beginning to imagine. It could even be that the power of AI is being overstated. The cultural commentator Ted Gioia, for one, seems to think so. In a just-published column, he suggests that 'growing AI resistance is forcing companies to reconsider their bot mania.' Moreover, he cites a Gartner report that predicts that 40% of AI agent programs will be cancelled before 2027. Wishful thinking (Gioia is a longstanding critic of what he sees as AI's detrimental effect on culture) or not, it seems that the adoption of the technology could be a less than smooth process. Earlier this year, a study by the networking and security company Cisco found 'a paradox among CEOs.' While 4 in 5 recognized AI's potential benefits and almost all planned to integrate AI into their operations, many feared gaps in their knowledge would hinder decisions in the boardroom (74%) and stifle growth (58%) – risking missed opportunities and falling behind competitors. Another study, by the professional services firm EY, suggested that companies were racing ahead to implement AI while not putting in place sufficient safeguards against the risks involved. What the survey identifies as a gap between senior executives' concerns about adherence to responsible AI principles and those of consumers in general is potentially serious because it will only feed into the sorts of worries outlined by the opinion formers in the FT and elsewhere. Much of this debate centres on whether AI is seen as very much a cost-saving exercise through replacing people with machines or whether — as many proponents increasingly emphasize — it is a complement that enables humans to do better work and so become more productive. With rising levels of unemployment among young graduates causing increasing alarm, there are fears that the former scenario is in the ascendancy. Experts in the field, such as Erica Orange of the futurist consulting firm The Future Hunters and Pascal Bornet, a member of the Forbes Technology Council, are attempting to redress the balance with books like AI and the New Human Frontier and Irreplaceable. But, as David De Cremer, author of The AI-Savvy Leader, points out, many AI projects continue to be what he calls 'tech-driving-tech transformations' with people valuing AI's computational prowess over human understanding. It is possible that these caveats are contributing to some over-valuations of businesses centered on AI and that we may be in the midst of something like the dotcom bubble of earlier this century. But Steve Garnett, a former senior executive with Oracle, Siebel Systems and Salesforce who is now an active investor in technology businesses, believes that, rather than being overhyped, the AI revolution is 'if anything underhyped.' Indeed, he is so convinced that this is something different that he has stopped investing in traditional software businesses and is instead focusing on AI. While acknowledging that there is 'some frothiness in there' and that companies just saying they are adopting AI does not really make them AI-focused, he insists that what came to wider prominence with the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022 represents a significant departure from what has come before. 'We have had four decades of incremental technology,' he said in an interview earlier this month, pointing to customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning and various human resources applications. While introducing fundamental changes to how organizations operated, he argued that they were not sufficiently wide in scope for the board and senior executives other than those closely involved in IT to become involved. On the other hand, the technology seemingly becoming more sophisticated by the week was 'a digital labour revolution,' he said. As such, the board and the senior executive team could not afford not to be involved. As the person responsible for motivating the human workforce, the HR director would obviously need to have a view on how AI agents would be integrated, while the chief executive and the chief financial officer would be concerned with costs and assessing the risks that that EY report indicated were receiving insufficient attention at present. At the very least, both the executive team and the board need training in how this technology works and what it has the potential to do. But — mindful of what has happened in the past to companies that failed to respond to change quickly enough — Garnett is urging them to see the need to redesign their processes and indeed in some cases their products and services if they are not to be left behind. With so many factors — including cyber-security concerns, use of data and how to prevent AI agents going rogue — to be considered, it looks like nothing short of a fundamental cultural change will be required.
Fox News
15-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
America has the power to lead the AI revolution – and the leadership to make it happen
America has triumphed in each industrial revolution – whether steel, energy or manufacturing – and has the power to lead the AI revolution, too. This week in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump is bringing together leaders to address a defining challenge of our time: how to fuel the AI revolution with American energy. Progress on this front will be consequential for our economy, our national security, and America's global leadership. President Trump's announced $500 billion private sector AI investment is a critical enabler for our country. But artificial intelligence won't power itself. It needs vast amounts of electricity, delivered affordably and reliably. And as demand for AI computing surges, the real question isn't just about who writes the best code – it's also about who can build out data center infrastructure behind it. The U.S. has the unique capability to do that – including the energy dominance to fuel it – and we now have the political will to lead. U.S. policy has often prioritized climate idealism over energy pragmatism. Wind, solar and battery technologies will play a key role in our energy future, but they are not available at the scale or reliability needed to fuel expected AI data center demand. And these combined sources are more expensive than U.S. natural gas. Without a balanced and clear-eyed approach, we risk pushing AI innovation – and the economic and national security advantages that come with it – overseas. Other countries are already trying to lure investment away from the United States by subsidizing AI computing power. In China, dozens of data centers are being built – 39 approved in the last quarter of 2024 alone. In Malaysia, authorities are fast-tracking electricity infrastructure for data centers, cutting lead times to just 12 months, compared to five years in the U.S. Some American companies are already helping to finance data center growth in the Middle East. The path to powering America's AI dominance is rooted in abundant American natural gas. The United States is already by far the world leader, accounting for a quarter of global natural gas production. And we are also one of the lowest-cost producers. Equally important is to ensure AI power demand doesn't drive up electricity costs for consumers. We can develop natural gas-based power generation independent of the current electric grid and co-locate it with data centers across the country. Providing this dedicated electricity prevents a competition for grid-connected power, which would drive up costs and burden our already strained electricity grid. New solutions like this require creative partnerships and continued innovation – which is why Chevron is working with Engine No. 1 and GE Vernova to establish facilities designed to provide reliable, affordable, long-term power-generating solutions to underpin American AI leadership. President Donald Trump, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., recognize the opportunity for the United States to achieve AI dominance. By leveraging abundant American natural gas as a foundation to meet surging AI power demand, we can strengthen our national security, grow our economy and protect our technology leadership. We have the power to lead the race to develop and deploy AI. It's time to use it.
