Azim Premji’s PremjiInvest pumps $10 billion dollar into AI

PremjiInvest, the privately held investment firm that manages over $10 billion investments for software tycoon Azim Premji, will invest more money into artificial intelligence companies while fine-tuning its proprietary AI investment tools, as per report.

TK Kurien, the company’s Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer said that the company is among the first large Indian asset managers to use AI tools in the private equity space, and is now working on an AI quant model for its public market bets too. He also added that the company will invest more in the AI space.

Three years ago, PremjiInvest started developing AI tools and also employed 14 AI engineers. The company also started investing into companies venturing into the nascent technology space.

AI is helping the asset manager scour more than 10,000 companies globally on 600 parameters to identify investment opportunities. The firm expects the entire exercise to also give it a bird's eye view of emerging technologies and trends that could help it stay ahead of peers, Kurien said.

Till now, PremjiInvest has invested in companies like Cohesity Inc., Holistic AI, Ikigai and Pixis in the sector.

Kurien revealed that the company is planning to allow open-source developers to access some of its AI tools. The fund's engineers are also developing platforms to help India's overburdened courts resolve cases faster and to also aid governments' efforts to offer services more effectively, he said.

Kurien highlighted that the company will invest majorly into technology and financial services. In private markets in India, the other two sectors in which the firm invests are consumer and health care. In the US, the investments are focused on health care and technology sectors.