Swift Ventures introduced a brand new one Artificial Intelligence Enterprise Index Today, the primary systematic scoring system is being created to discover publicly traded firms which are making real investments in AI technology, quite than simply talking about it in earnings releases.
The enterprise capital firm developed the index by fine-tuning large language models to investigate 1000’s of earnings logs, hiring data and research papers. The evaluation found that while firms mentioned AI over 16,000 times in last quarter's earnings announcements, only a small fraction of those made significant investments within the technology.
“Everyone sees that the world is changing – AI is changing the world, but most individuals simply don’t have the chance to take part in the positive development,” said Brett Wilson, co-founder of Swift Ventures, in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “You can’t put money into private firms like I do as a VC, and it’s just demanding to seek out real AI firms beyond just buying Nvidia or the Magnificent Seven.”
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The index currently tracks roughly 90 firms and uses three fundamental metrics: investment in AI research and open source contributions, AI talent density, and revenue from AI operations.
Companies that meet the factors for inclusion within the index have demonstrated remarkable market performance. The index has posted annual growth of 37% over the past three years, handily outpacing each the Nasdaq's 12% growth and the S&P's 19% growth over the identical period.
Perhaps most striking is the connection between research investments and profitability. Wilson noted: “When we take a look at firms that often contribute to AI research and open source models, you see that that is reflected of their profitability. These firms have a median gross profit about twice that of standard tech firms that don’t – 55% versus 25%.”
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The index shows a big talent gap in public markets. According to Swift's evaluation, only about 200 publicly traded firms employ greater than 1% of their workforce in AI-specific roles, despite widespread claims about AI adoption. This key figure has turn into increasingly vital US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects unprecedented demand for AI engineers.
“You can’t just speak about AI and be an AI company,” Wilson emphasized. “It’s about investing in AI talent, infrastructure and research and contributing to the community.”
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The index has identified several under-the-radar firms making significant AI investments, including Doximacywhich develops AI-powered medical writing applications, and Leidoswhich focuses on defense-oriented autonomous systems. These firms are growing “over 50% per yr,” in response to Wilson, suggesting a broader AI transformation that goes beyond well-known technology leaders.
Swift Ventures plans to make the index free with quarterly updates and is considering launching an ETF in early 2025 if investor interest shows. The company's approach represents a major departure from existing AI investment tools and focuses on programmatic scoring quite than stock selection.
“We don’t need to appear to be that Kathy Wood“The vehicle where someone picks certain stocks,” Wilson explained. “Our intention was to make use of some form of programmatic criteria when choosing firms and let the system do it.”
The index's launch comes at a critical time for AI investing, as public market investors struggle to distinguish between the businesses they put money into sensible AI investments and those that simply adopt AI terminology. It also happens the best way private AI firms prefer it Data blocks, AI scales And Anthropocene Prepare for potential public offerings in the approaching years, suggesting the landscape of AI firms could change dramatically.
This latest methodology has the potential to turn into an ordinary benchmark for evaluating AI investments, potentially influencing how firms allocate resources to AI development and the way investors measure AI capabilities in public markets.
For business leaders, the index provides clear metrics for what constitutes true AI investments. As Wilson noted, “True AI investments mean that you will have a preponderance of AI employees, that you simply put money into AI research, that you simply contribute it to the community, and that your revenue is fundamentally impacted by those AI investments.”
