The AI generation: how Moonfare is embracing the AI era
Inside Moonfare6 min read·Just now--
Written by: Sheena Gujadhur — Moonfare’s Senior Talent Acquisition Manager
The shift is here — but adoption isn’t enough
AI adoption is accelerating at a pace few predicted. According to Stanford University, the percentage of organisations using AI in at least one business function jumped from 55% in 2023 to 78% in 2024. But adoption alone doesn’t create advantage.
The real differentiator isn’t whether a company is using AI, it’s whether AI is fundamentally reshaping how that company operates, makes decisions and creates value. The gap between surface-level adoption and deep structural integration is widening. And over time, that gap will define who leads and who follows.
At Moonfare, we’ve been deliberate about which side of that line we want to be on.
A structural shift, not a trend
Our Founder and Co-CEO, Steffen Pauls, has been clear: “AI is not a sector trend but a structural shift in how companies are built and scaled.” That conviction isn’t a talking point, it’s the lens through which we make every decision, from how we invest on behalf of our clients to how we run the business itself.
The race to capture value from AI is the defining story of this era, for venture capital in start-ups, for buyouts streamlining operations through AI implementation, and for infrastructure. We believe that managers building real AI capabilities will create more value and gain a clear competitive edge over those slower to adapt.
This isn’t just our investment thesis. It’s our operating philosophy.
New leadership driving transformation
This year, we took a decisive step by appointing Xijun Zhang as our Director of AI. Alongside our Co-CEOs and the wider team, he is leading AI adoption across the entire organisation.
The mandate is clear:
- Reduce complexity: Streamlining processes and eliminating friction across functions.
- Centralise ways of working: Creating consistency, shared tools and unified workflows powered by AI and automation.
- Enhance efficiency, effectiveness and productivity: Ensuring that every team, from investment to operations to client experience, is empowered to do more with smarter tools.
This isn’t transformation for transformation’s sake. It’s about building a more agile, intelligent organisation, one that moves faster, makes better decisions and delivers more for the people who matter most: our investors.
Built together, not top-down
Here’s what most transformation efforts get wrong: they’re handed down from a strategy team and expected to stick. That approach fails, repeatedly, because the people closest to the work aren’t in the room when the decisions are made.
We’ve taken a fundamentally different approach.
We run regular AI Journey Sessions — cross-functional working forums where teams across the organisation align on what they’re building, what’s delivering results and where the friction points sit. These aren’t polished status updates. They’re honest, working conversations designed to surface dependencies, share learnings and keep our momentum grounded in reality.
We’ve also appointed AI Champions from every department — individuals who serve as connective tissue between their teams and the broader transformation effort. Their job is to ensure communication is seamless, adoption is practical rather than theoretical, and no team is left building in a silo.
The result is transparency by design. Every function, investment, operations, client experience, legal, finance, has visibility into the AI initiatives shaping the organisation. Alignment isn’t assumed at Moonfare. It’s engineered.
Because the hardest part of transformation isn’t technology. It’s getting an entire organisation to move in the same direction, at the same pace, with the same understanding of why.
Hiring for the shift
Transforming how we work means transforming who we hire.
We’ve redesigned our recruitment process across all levels, from junior hires to senior leadership, to ensure we’re bringing in professionals who don’t just fit the role today, but are ready for where the role is heading tomorrow.
Every candidate is now assessed through both a behavioural and technical lens for AI and automation readiness. We’re not looking for AI specialists in every seat. We’re looking for people who demonstrate a forward-thinking mindset, professionals who have actively engaged with AI tools, experimented with automation, or found ways to think beyond the traditional boundaries of their role.
This is a deliberate filter. It tells us something important about a candidate: are they curious? Are they adaptable? Do they see their function as static, or as something that evolves?
Because in a business that is restructuring itself around AI, every hire either accelerates that journey or slows it down. We’re building a team where every new addition moves us forward.
AI for our clients: an AI-focused investment strategy
Our conviction doesn’t stop at our own operations. We’re putting it to work for our clients.
Moonfare recently launched an AI-focused early and growth stage strategy, designed to provide access to the managers and companies capturing this structural shift. The strategy is built around a core allocation of eight to 15 growth managers, complemented by direct investments into technology companies, managers chosen for their track records of identifying and scaling category-defining businesses through multiple market cycles.
As Steffen put it: “Access to the managers and companies best positioned to capture that shift remains constrained. This strategy is designed to secure allocations with a select group of leading firms and construct a diversified portfolio that would be difficult for individual investors to replicate.”
Pavel Ermoline, our Head of Venture Capital and Direct Investing, reinforced the point: “The challenge for many market participants isn’t identifying the theme, it’s gaining access, building diversified exposure and partnering with managers who can consistently source the most competitive opportunities.”
The strategy seeks exposure across AI, cybersecurity, next-generation healthcare, deep tech, fintech infrastructure and physical AI, with initial allocations including top-quartile technology managers and direct exposure to a category-leading data intelligence platform company.
This launch builds on Moonfare’s continued expansion of its discretionary capabilities and reinforces our focus on institutional-grade selection, disciplined portfolio construction and differentiated private markets exposure.
The stakes are higher than most realise
The AI opportunity is enormous and accelerating. Funding to AI startups hit $47.3 billion across 1,403 deals in Q2 2025 alone. Together with Q1, that brought the H1 total to $116 billion, already exceeding all of 2024.
But here’s the part that doesn’t make it into the hype cycle: most of that capital will be wasted. Despite sometimes dizzying valuations, what ultimately matters is not simply gaining exposure to AI as a theme, but backing the handful of companies that go on to define entire categories. The difference between the winners and the rest won’t be marginal. It will be existential.
The broader private equity landscape is shifting in parallel. Intensifying competition and deeper integration of AI across private markets could significantly enhance operational efficiency and value creation in PE-backed businesses. The firms that embed AI into their portfolio operations, not just their pitch decks, will outperform.
For investors sitting on the sidelines, the window isn’t closing. It’s narrowing.
The bottom line
AI is reshaping how businesses operate, how value is created and how investors access opportunity. At Moonfare, we’re not experimenting. We’re restructuring, how we work, how we invest, how we collaborate across teams and how we deliver for our clients.
The AI generation isn’t on the horizon. It’s here. And the organisations that will define it are the ones making hard, structural commitments today. We at Moonfare intend to lead the new era.
Ready to be part of our AI-focused growth story? Check out our Careers page or reach out directly to me via LinkedIn to join us on this fulfilling journey!
