Speaker 0:
joining me Now at the Optimum Investment Group annual summit. Eugene FASA, head of strategy at the Optimum Investment Group, Welcome Eugene. So Eugene, the major theme at the summit this year seems to be artificial intelligence. How is artificial intelligence and virtual reality shaping some of the investment decisions that you're making at Optimum?

Speaker 1:
Chloe, As a thematic asset manager, we always need to identify these trends and how it will influence our investment decisions. And you're 100% right. We placed a lot of emphasis today on artificial, intelligent virtual reality and how it actually changed our day to day life in the investment environment. But I think Fran Botha, our CIO highlights it, or even Graham the A. I does not have the latest information yet,

Speaker 1:
so yes, you can use it to work through loads of data and narrow it down. But unfortunately, you can't rely on it yet as a full investment tool, it can help you to narrow the landscape. It can help you to to get to the the the details that you want to go into more in. But it will not tell you. Oh, investment to next year. You're gonna get 30% return from that. So I think artificial intelligence, yes, do we use?

Speaker 1:
But of course we use it, and I think we have to embrace it. Will it take over our positions? Our jobs? Definitely not. But it will strengthen our investment landscape. And I think what's important, too, is as as they have highlighted, how indirectly it influences certain companies. How companies that you might associate with, um, vehicles or tractors or whatever, actually use the data that they get from the land that they work on and how they

Speaker 1:
share it between either their employees, facial recognition and banking. The list goes on. Artificial intelligence are here to stay. It's more just like, How will you embrace it? How companies will embrace it Because it's not just a stand alone thing. It can be used in every day to day type of of of, um, company.

Speaker 0:
Absolutely. I completely agree with you. What opportunities, then, do you think artificial intelligence apply to a developing market like South Africa?

Speaker 0:
What opportunities could it present? Well,

Speaker 1:
I think it goes back to just how the virtual reality, the artificial intelligence, how you can train people on mining as an example how it feels to go underground, uh, virtual reality for the cockpit as well. Artificial intelligence can help to narrow down. But has this even happened across the globe? Yet? Uh, Graham actually had a very good example of, like, Who's the 10 largest companies in the world? Who's their CEO s.

Speaker 1:
So it can really help you to get take lots and lots of data and narrow it down very, very quickly. And that's exactly what artificial intelligence is. It is to help you to sift through these masses and masses of data. The Internet itself is just big one. I want to almost say a whole of data, but to get it out optimally. And that's where artificial intelligence can really, really add value. Who's the largest companies? Who's the largest mining company, who's the most? Just be

Speaker 1:
specific in the questions and how you pose it, and it can really help you to work through a tonne of information very, very quickly. Absolutely.

Speaker 0:
And I just to close off the session. Eugene, what were some of the key highlights for your, um, for you today from from this annual summit?

Speaker 1:
I think definitely our our major theme today is as South Africans. We are unbelievably negative at this point in time. And I think Dr Suleman Really? Um uh uh, uh Summarised it so so well, we've gone through a traumatic

Speaker 1:
three years. It was covid. It was riots. It was adverse weather. Now we're sitting with Eskom, too. It's just like, where does this actually end? And now what do you do? Do you just take your money and run, or do you actually stay here? And he highlighted the change that's within all of us. And that's the whole thing. There is still hope in this country. It's the country is currently may be run by one political party, but there's still massive opportunity out there. May it be an A I May it be in mining. May it be in

Speaker 1:
coal renewable energy. The list goes on. There's still so much opportunities in this country, and there's so many people that still believe in this country. And I think that was the key takeaway. There's still opportunities in this country, and we must just continue to look at it inside of ourselves. It sits within us. It's not something that you'll just get in

Speaker 1:
in an Internet blog at the end of the

Speaker 0:
day, and I think resilience, Um, just to embrace the change that's that's coming ahead

Speaker 1:
of us. And that's definitely it's inevitable, especially next year. With the election, resilience is key. But as a nation, I think we're unbelievably resilient. Um, that I think that makes us stand out across the globe. Actually,

Speaker 0:
Eugene, thank you very much for sharing your insights. We appreciate your time.

Speaker 1:
Thanks.