Vista Equity Partners Founder and CEO Robert Smith has reaffirmed his conviction in the tech sector, stating that AI-driven opportunities continue to make technology stocks attractive, even amid geopolitical and market headwinds.

Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Smith pointed to agentic AI as a transformational force for enterprise software. “In some cases, the instances are because they haven’t realised a true potential and investors haven’t realised a true potential of adopting agentic AI in these businesses,” he said. However, he added that not every company is positioned to succeed. “Some will not have a right to exist because they actually haven’t done the right work and understanding and having sovereignty and dominion over the workflows and datasets.”

Despite recent tariff-related tensions and macro uncertainty—labelled “Liberation Day” by some investors—the Nasdaq Composite has rebounded by 8.6% over the past month, helped by strong earnings from major tech names like Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft. Still, year-to-date, the index is down 7%, underperforming both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500.

Smith’s remarks underscore the continued relevance of technology in private equity portfolios, particularly as adoption of AI accelerates across sectors. Vista, one of the world’s largest software-focused private equity firms, continues to prioritise AI-led enterprise investments as a core pillar of its strategy.

Source: Yahoo Finance