Building on a CFA Institute overview of how data science and AI are entering investment management, this short article takes the perspective of asset owners and consultants and asks: what is the real value of AI in investing?

Pim van Vliet, Managing Director Quantitative Investments, outlines five critical conversations to help cut through the noise. In these, he suggests a range of key questions that can reveal whether an asset manager’s AI capability truly adds value. For example, how do they define AI in investing? Who leads AI within the organization, and how long has it been in use? What has AI contributed to strategies so far, and what pitfalls do they foresee? And finally, how will AI shape investing going forward?

Ultimately, using common sense when it comes to AI is as important as performance itself – because the integrity of the process determines whether its outcomes can be trusted. AI is powerful, but not magic. Having these five conversations helps separate genuine innovation from buzzword inflation.