Ash Fontana on AI, investing, and how to build data learning effects | The Further, Faster Podcast

Few people understand the significance, benefit and context of the AI revolution quite like Ash Fontana. The managing director of Zetta Venture Partners – the first venture capital fund focused on intelligent systems – Ash is also the lead investor in companies such as Kaggle, Invenia, Clearbit, Tractable, and Focal Systems. He’s also the author of the AI-First Company, a must-read guide for founders dreaming of building the next trillion-dollar company. He joined Antler Partner Bede More for an in-depth discussion about this pivotal moment for tech. 

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The conversation goes deep – starting with a plotted history of technology from the earliest tools to the most advanced neural networks, Ash helps frame how we can conceptualise the dramatic shifts happening in business, tech and culture. But this is also about learning to apply new tools and new ways of thinking to business and Ash lays out exactly what it means to start a company in the “AI-First Century.” 

Ash also brings fresh ways of thinking about the tech that is available. He runs through the ways founders can leverage automation and “do more with less”, but he also warns against approaching AI like a home DIY project. “I see a lot of people buy all the tools before they build anything,” he says. “What I see as being much more successful in most industries…is when people go and actually look at the data they have.” For Ash, a manual approach for predictions still makes sense as a first move. “If it’s working, sure, implement it as a system that runs by itself.” 

The pair also dive into the way AI agents can add value to a company, how to manage them. and why founders need to be cognizant of what actually adds value to their business or product. As Ash explains, in the AI-First century, “the barriers to starting are lower, the cost is lower, but the competition is higher.” 

For more insights on building in the AI-First Century – and Fontana’s predictions on what the next century will look like – listen to the full episode.

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