Prosus may turn to AI to shape businesses

South African-owned and Amsterdam-headquartered investment firm Prosus is looking to build an ecosystem based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can bring together businesses with synergy, enhancing their efficiency and value.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

David Tudor, group general counsel and part of the management leadership team of Naspers/Prosus, said: "We are building an ecosystem based on AI that can bring together businesses with synergy — such as food delivery, payments, and online travel agencies. You see this emerging with our food portfolio in Brazil with iFood and online travel agency Despegar. It is at an early stage in India, but we aspire to leverage AI similarly in what is one of our top three global markets."

In India, Prosus has investments in Swiggy and owns payment technology (tech) company PayU, Rapido, a ride-hailing aggregator, and ecommerce platform Meesho, which analysts say could be built into a synergetic ecosystem based on AI.

Tudor, however, cautions that many companies are using "the badge of AI" to attract investment or valuations, calling it a "very dangerous" trend.