Small markets. Global capital. Big ambition.

PART 2 · AI

AI · WHY NOW

The pace is exponential

The mistake most people make is drawing a straight line from today. That line falls further behind the real curve every year.

We're in the AI-assisted window now: 2–5 years before AI-first, which comes 5–10 years out for software and 10–20 for robotics.

AI · THE REAL GAP

The gap is no longer the technology

THE MODELS

What they can do Answer, read, chase and process, at the standard of a trained person.

MOST BUSINESSES What they've put to work Pilots, co-pilots and chat windows. Very little running on its own.

The space between is the implementation gap. That gap is the opportunity: most of your competitors haven't closed it yet, and the businesses that close it first will win.

Pace chart: Implement AI framework; Singularity date from Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near (2005). Gap chart is illustrative, not data.

Small markets. Global capital. Big ambition. · CIF 2026 closing keynote takeaways · Piers Linney MBE

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