Positioning AI’s role in transforming business building and the private market

Beyond the Hype: How AI is Structurally Changing Business and Investment Dynamics

At Web Summit Lisbon 2025, Mr. Nuno Mateus-Coelho, CNN Portugal Contributor, moderated a panel on AI’s transformative role in business and private markets. Mr. Nick Lamb, CEO of Outcode, and Mr. Manav Gupta, Founder & CEO of Brinc, debated if AI represents a structural shift or a mere trend, highlighting its profound and evolving impact across sectors.

Mr. Lamb described AI’s current state as the “wild, wild west,” promising much but not always fully delivering. His company focuses on AI augmenting human capabilities, optimizing internal operations to free up the workforce. He noted AI accelerates market entry and fosters agility, yet also introduces many products lacking clear market purpose.

Mr. Gupta, whose firm Brinc has supported over a thousand companies, observed that nearly every new applicant now integrates AI. He distinguished AI’s function as either a fundamental redesign of an industry’s technology stack, which he finds most exciting, or as a “worker” rather than a mere tool. He stressed identifying AI’s strategic placement within a business’s value chain.

Regarding company valuation, Mr. Gupta noted AI enables “perfect pitches,” complicating investor assessment. Brinc employs AI as a primary filter for initial analysis and due diligence of thousands of companies. This AI-driven approach also customizes scoring for accelerators collaborating with major corporations, governments, and universities, enhancing tailored content for founders.

Mr. Lamb warned against “smoke and mirrors” surrounding AI, where basic interfaces are overhyped. He argued genuine business value stems from AI-enabled “hard businesses” like hardware, energy, and industrial sectors, which can now become truly tech-driven. Despite AI’s internal efficiencies, he emphasized the critical, irreplaceable role of authentic human connection and relationships for founder success.

Both speakers concurred that while AI offers superior tools for research and business packaging, founders’ empathetic nature remains paramount. Mr. Lamb addressed the cultural challenge of AI integration, advocating for a “carrot, not a stick” approach. He suggested pairing AI power users with non-users to demonstrate efficiency gains, fostering broader adoption and skill development.

Mr. Gupta detailed Brinc’s initiative to build an AI venture capital operating system. This system digitalizes the entire investment process, providing tools for pitch deck creation, analysis, term sheet generation, and even live pitch practice with AI feedback. This comprehensive approach aims for enhanced scalability and efficiency in supporting founders.

On the generational gap, Mr. Gupta affirmed the immense value of experienced individuals. He explained that effective AI application requires deep industry knowledge, which seasoned mentors and advisors uniquely provide. Mr. Lamb reinforced this, stating AI should augment, not replace, humans. He advised organizations to meet employees at their current skill level, integrating AI into existing workflows for natural adoption.

Ethically, Mr. Lamb urged entrepreneurs to establish clear boundaries, believing the market rewards responsible practices. He linked high startup failure rates to a lack of true value creation, advocating for businesses to prioritize improving humanity’s quality of life over solely generating stakeholder value. The goal, he asserted, is to solve problems without inadvertently creating new ones.

Mr. Gupta further explained Brinc’s ethical framework, including a policy against investing in animal agriculture. He cited an example: a climate solution using food waste for animal feed. While environmentally sound, it supports an exploitative system, conflicting with Brinc’s values. This highlights that AI alone cannot fully discern such ethical nuances; human values must be explicitly embedded into AI tools.