Looking Beyond the Big Names For AI Opportunities

When discussing AI, the large companies like Microsoft, Tesla, or NVIDIA typically take up most of the oxygen. But Matthew Bartolini, managing director at State Street Global Advisors and head of SPDR Americas research, noted that “innovation happens down the cap spectrum.”

“Everyone knows the larger companies,” Bartolini said on a panel for VettaFi’s AI Symposium. “We like to look at companies a bit beneath the surface.”

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And if one were to look past the large-cap tech firms, they’d find that AI has a wide array of different uses. Firms within information technology, industrials, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary, among others all connect to AI. It’s being used for such things as research & labs, cloud computing, and end-user applications.

For example, Bartolini cited a global water technology company called Xylem that uses AI to detect water leakage in pipes and sewers. Another company using AI in a completely different way is C3.ai, which creates the research capabilities for end-users like Xylem.

“AI is a nebulous topic that can mean a couple things,” Bartolini said, adding that it’s “not a specific sector.”