SoftBank Investment Advisers

Building a company at AI speed? Glean’s founders know the feeling — and they’ve learned a thing or two along the way. Here’s their hard-won advice for startups looking to keep up: ⚫ Be willing to scrap timetables and product plans. What made sense in January might be outdated by March. Always be ready to course correct if needed. ⚫ Have a bias toward action. The amount of time spent on a decision should be proportional to how hard it is to change it later. If something is easy to change, any amount of time you wasted on it is too long. ⚫ Keep an eye on competitors, but don’t obsess over them. Know who you’re up against and what they’re doing. But remain true to your North Star rather than trying to match rivals feature by feature. Read on for the full story behind Glean’s AI-powered evolution. https://lnkd.in/ehRtqdyX #ai #founders #innovation

Databricks is redefining the data landscape for enterprises, enabling them to unlock their full potential in the next era of generative AI innovation. We're thrilled to participate in their latest fundraising round and support their mission of delivering powerful, unified data analytics and AI solutions for transformative business outcomes.   "Databricks and SoftBank share a common vision around the impact that AI is going to have on enterprises and society over the decades to come," said Jonathan Parker, SVP Finance & Investor Relations at Databricks. "Having seen both their success in backing the most impactful companies around the globe and the benefits that SoftBank has experienced with Databricks' Data Intelligent Platform over the past many years, we're incredibly honored and excited to partner even more closely to bring those benefits to other companies in Japan and around the world."   "Databricks enables organizations to move beyond traditional analytics and tap into new frontiers of AI-powered insight," said Brett Rochkind, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "As enterprises look to harness the potential of generative AI, Databricks' platform streamlines the path from raw data to refined models, making advanced capabilities accessible and accelerating innovation. We're proud to partner with Ali Ghodsi and team as they continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with data and AI." https://lnkd.in/eqC_mi6K

In a race to stay ahead, CTOs are investing heavily in AI — because nobody wants to be left behind when the future is being written. “Generative AI requires significant and long-term investment in terms of data, talent, technology stack, computing, and overall governance,” says Merve Hickok, founder of AIethicist.org. SoftBank Investment Advisers’ CTO Wil Bolivar says the scale of AI spending at companies will hinge on how they decide to deploy the technology, whether by investing in third-party products or building AI models of their own. As CTOs execute AI investments, they’re focused on ROI, striving to find the balance between ambition and bottom-line impact. Read our full story to learn more. https://lnkd.in/ezCPZ2Zc #ai #cto #tech

Today’s CTOs are the architects of a tech-forward future, and they’re grappling with rapid advancements that demand more strategic foresight than ever. Our annual CTO survey showed that AI is driving a surge in tech budgets, with 63% of CTOs reporting growth in their generative AI investments this year — and 24% seeing them double or more. Reflexivity CTO Armenak Mayalian encourages everyone to explore generative AI. “Try it. Use it. See if it can help you. Leverage AI and large language models wherever you can.” Read the full story to understand why CTOs are betting big on AI amid shifting budgets. https://lnkd.in/eaSHMnn6 #ai #cto #tech

The idea of a “Google for the enterprise” has been a holy grail in tech — easy to imagine, but nearly impossible to build. Breakthrough AI suddenly changed the equation. As new LLMs entered the landscape faster than ever before, Glean co-founder and CTO T.R. Vishwanath, leveraged whatever it would take to realize the team’s vision. “We had to build a product where there’d be nothing preventing us from using the latest and greatest model,” he says. Fast forward to today, and Glean has created a powerful product that doesn’t just search but delivers answers, seamlessly connecting employees to the knowledge buried within their company’s data. Learn more about how Glean is transforming workplace search into something truly useful and intuitive. https://lnkd.in/g-tj9aTw #ai #founders #innovation

SoftBank Latin America Managing Partners Juan Franck and Alex Szapiro recently spoke with Reed Albergotti of SEMAFOR to discuss our vision and long-term commitment to investing in AI and generational tech in the LatAm region. Juan, Alex, and Reed spoke at length about the successes Latin American companies, including portfolio companies ASAAS and Blip, have had in developing AI at the application layer. They also discussed the geopolitical stability that has made the region an attractive emerging market for capital, and why growth in Latin American countries can serve as a bellwether for success across global markets. We’ve been investing in Latin America since 2019, and are excited to continue our support for the amazing entrepreneurs in this market and remain one of the most active growth equity investors in the region. Read more in the comments:

In the world of AI, staying still is falling behind. For Glean, the arrival of Chat GPT meant scrapping plans, establishing virtual “war rooms” around the world and embarking on a six-week sprint to change the future of the business. “Pre-ChatGPT, we were in control of our timing and how fast we wanted to move,” says Arvind Jain, who serves as Glean’s CEO. “With ChatGPT, that option vanished.” Glean Assistant is the product of this intense shift, a dynamic chatbot that turns information into actionable insights across vast corporate data landscapes. The company’s journey highlights the new rules of AI: move fast, adapt constantly, and aim higher than ever before. Read the full story of how Glean is redefining AI’s role in the workplace. https://lnkd.in/eA3qw_47 #ai #founders #innovation

The race to harness AI’s power won’t just be won from algorithmic breakthroughs — it also hinges on human leadership and oversight. Businesses around the world are adopting different approaches to AI management. In fact, around one-third of medium-to-large enterprises have already appointed dedicated Heads of AI, or are actively recruiting for it At Cohesity, AI leadership means blending innovation with responsibility: “You want some centralized leadership to ensure a cohesive story externally. But internally, you should let 1,000 flowers bloom,” says CTO Craig Martell. By empowering teams to experiment under clear guardrails, Cohesity is shaping a future where AI’s revolutions meet accountability. Learn more in our full story: https://lnkd.in/e7wNgFi4 #AI #leadership #tech

AlphaSense CEO Jaakko (Jack) Kokko describes his company’s platform as “LLM-agnostic.” In a world where AI evolves overnight, staying on the cutting edge is no small feat. And for AlphaSense, adaptability is core to their mission. “When something new comes out, we test it, we validate whether it is improving the performance of one of the key tasks within the system, and if it does, we can easily swap it in,” Kokko says. “Which LLM is best isn’t a binary thing.” Today, AlphaSense is used by more than 5,000 enterprise customers, including giants like Google, J.P. Morgan, and Pfizer and more than half of the S&P 500 companies. In our latest Q&A, Kokko explains how AI became core to the product, how the company has built guardrails by having different LLMs oversee each other for accuracy, and what he’s learned in the process. https://lnkd.in/eVwyUx3W #AI #finance #founders

At Meesho, AI leadership is all about focus and impact. “Picking the right AI projects is crucial because they require a fair degree of iterations to create impact,” shares Debdoot Mukherjee, Head of AI. “I’ve seen companies pick a problem that’s not a core issue. When you do that, you risk losing momentum." By selecting projects with direct ties to Meesho’s mission, Mukherjee has built both trust and momentum around AI initiatives — making the tech meaningful, not just experimental. In our latest roundup, executives at high-growth tech companies share how to make the most of AI. Read the full piece to gain deep insights into AI leadership and opportunities. https://lnkd.in/eiHKpfRP #AI #leadership #tech