Paul BarnhurstFP&A Expert Empowering Finance Professionals to Excel Everday

AI is a portfolio, not an experiment.

4 Jun 2026 · 0 min

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In this brief monologue, the speaker argues that AI initiatives should be approached like a portfolio of investments rather than a series of experiments. Because AI projects involve significant costs and risks, they require disciplined management akin to financial portfolio oversight. While some projects will fail, some will succeed, and unexpected outcomes may arise, the speaker emphasizes that a structured, disciplined approach to managing AI initiatives is essential.

You have to consider AI just like your portfolio of investments because it is. AI cannot be thought of as a series of experiments. It can't. There's too much cost and risk involved. Obviously, the benefits there as well, but there's too much cost and risk involved to think of it as just an experiment, just like you would with your investment. They need to be managed with the same discipline that you would manage your portfolio of investments. Yeah, some will fail, some will succeed, some might be a surprise, but that's okay. But you still have the management discipline around how you approach them.