The panel was moderated by Jay Eum, cofounder of GFT Ventures and a long-standing corporate venture investor. Eum was joined by senior leaders from major corporate VC units including Quinn Li, global head of Qualcomm Ventures; Dong-Su Kim, CEO of LG Technology Ventures; Jihong King, vice president of Samsung Ventures America; and John Wesley, founding investment director of NVentures, Nvidia’s investment arm.

The following points summarise the key themes for corporate investors that emerged from their discussion. 

  • AI is now a universal investment priority 
    • All the panellists emphasised that artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry and has become unavoidable for corporates. 
    • CVC units are allocating a majority of time and capital to AI-related opportunities, often spanning infrastructure, models and applications. 
  • Ecosystem-driven investment strategies dominate
    • Investors are targeting companies that extend or complement their parent company’s capabilities (e.g., compute platforms, semiconductors, devices). 
    • Strategic alignment and partnership potential often outweigh pure financial considerations. 
  • AI valuations: bifurcation rather than uniform bubble 
    • The consensus was that the market is split between speculative, narrative-driven companies and those with real revenue and traction. 
    • Within that, some see a broader “hype cycle”, while others argue fundamentals will catch up with valuations over time.
    • CVCs show greater tolerance for high valuations where strategic value is clear. 
  • Growth rates are unprecedented
    • Native AI companies are scaling from zero to significant revenue (e.g., $100m ARR) in under a year, challenging traditional valuation frameworks. 
  • Physical AI and robotics are emerging as the next frontier 
    • There is a strong focus on “physical AI” spanning robotics, manufacturing and scientific discovery. 
    • Key enablers include improved data availability, simulation and generalisable models. 
    • Investors are targeting the full stack: data, models, hardware and systems integration. 
  • Application-led value creation remains critical
    • “Winning” companies are those solving clear customer pain points or delivering superior performance in crowded markets. 
    • Some of the examples cited included AI in healthcare, manufacturing optimisation and voice generation. 
  • Strategic takeaway for corporates 
    • Success in AI investing hinges on combining financial discipline with ecosystem positioning, partnership potential and exposure to high-growth use cases. 

This summary was generated by AI and lightly edited by GCV staff.