SoftBank Investment Advisers

63% of CFOs are spending more time on operations this year than two years ago, and 50% more on sales/go-to-market activities. This shift reflects the evolving role of the CFO, as today’s finance leaders are driving growth and innovation while also helping shape company strategy — aligning financial goals with broader business objectives. “The CFO’s role has broadened considerably,” says AutoStore™ CFO Paul Harrison. “CEOs are now more readily using their CFOs as a sounding board across a range of decisions.” Discover how CFOs are adapting and shaping strategy in this analysis of our latest survey: https://lnkd.in/gnX6FUnA #CFO #Leadership #Strategy

Our Co-CEO Alex Clavel sat down in Mumbai with Samidha Sharma of The Economic Times to discuss our ongoing commitment to investing in revolutionary tech in India. Alex and Samidha discussed the market factors that have made India the world’s leading IPO market in 2024, the three Indian IPOs from SoftBank-backed companies this year to date, and the opportunity in AI infrastructure and data that he sees on the horizon. Our conviction in Indian entrepreneurship and in the country’s potential for ongoing technological transformation has led SoftBank to become the largest foreign investor in India’s digital economy over the last decade. We’re thrilled to continue to expand our investments in the market and support the region’s growth. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eam-MjgQ

Tractable CEO Venkat Sathyamurthy wants to demystify the AI hype. "Too many companies are focused on fancy things and buzzwords, and that’s killing them right now,” he says. “We can’t afford to do that. That’s why we focus heavily on outcome, outcome, outcome.” Tractable’s computer vision technology assesses images of damaged vehicles and quickly identifies which parts are broken to estimate repair costs. This innovation is poised to transform the auto insurance industry. In our Q&A, Sathyamurthy shares more about how his company is leveraging AI to drive real results for customers. https://lnkd.in/gpgN3b22 #ai #insurance #tech

An IPO is a seminal moment for a company. The decision to take your business public is a springboard for growth, but the journey to get there presents a completely new set of challenges. “Ringing the bell to officially publicly list is an incredible milestone and should be celebrated,” says SoftBank Investment Advisers Executive Managing Partner and CFO Navneet Govil. “But, ultimately, it’s one day in a company’s journey.” We asked CFOs who went from private to public to share insights and reflections on their path to an IPO. Here’s what they told us: https://lnkd.in/geGs3jEu #startups #insights #tech

Earlier this week, we were proud to share the news that Lenskart.com won Startup of the Year at the ET Startup Awards 2024. Learn more about the company’s journey from a burgeoning D2C startup to a worldwide leader in eyewear in our feature story:

Recently, the SoftBank team in Latin America co-organized two events about GenAI in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. Over two days, around 25 CTOs and CPOs from SoftBank Latam Funds portfolio companies were able to exchange experiences, have access to application cases, learn about technological solutions and the latest trends on GenAI.    Thank you to all who joined and supported the event, especially Alex Szapiro and Ivan Ribeiro.   Discover more about how our portfolio companies are harnessing this technology as a transformational force: https://lnkd.in/gtuAH2SU   #innovation #startups #entrepreneurs

From our latest CFO survey: The pendulum is swinging back towards growth. Just 14% of CFOs plan to prioritize profitability over growth in the next 12 months, a sharp decline from 40% last year. With economic optimism on the rise, growth is taking center stage once again. At Buser Brasil, the focus is shifting too. CFO Júlia Salgado Chagas is investing in new routes and improved pricing models, tapping into the power of AI to create better shopping and customer service experiences. Explore how financial leaders are navigating this new landscape: https://lnkd.in/g_cgp-BS #Growth #CFO #Finance

Congratulations to Lenskart.com on winning @Startup of the Year at ET Startup Awards (ETSA) 2024. Conducting 100k eye tests every month across stores in 15 countries, Lenskart is committed to addressing the massive challenge of vision correction required by over 2.5 billion people globally. We’re proud to partner with Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and the team. Well done to everyone on this recognition, it’s richly deserved! Sumer Juneja Sarthak Misra Image: ETtech

OpenAI is at the frontier of artificial intelligence research and deployment. We’re excited to participate in the company’s latest fundraising round, and support their ongoing efforts to create general-purpose AI systems.   “OpenAI is a leader in progressing and deploying AI technology, creating systems that make it easier and faster for people and businesses to leverage the power of AI,” said Vikas Parekh, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We’re proud to partner with the OpenAI team as they continue to build artificial general intelligence that benefits humanity.” https://lnkd.in/eQZG9qXd CC: Paul Davison Kiran K. Karol Niewiadomski

As previewed by Nina Trentmann in this week’s Bloomberg CFO Briefing, CFOs are gearing up for growth. Our latest CFO survey reveals growing optimism among finance leaders, with 52% feeling more upbeat about the economy than they did a year ago. As a result, 50% of CFOs plan to raise capital in the next 12 months. Steve Hulme, CFO of Zopa Bank, notes: “We’re seeing the first signs of improving interest rates and a bit more stability, which is helpful in terms of clarity about where we’re headed.” Discover more insights from our CFO survey here:  https://lnkd.in/ezna6rhP #CFO #CapitalRaising #EconomicOutlook