Kamal Ghorui
Berkshire Hathaway had its first annual shareholders meeting (AGM) in Omaha, Nebraska, four months after succeeding arguably the world’s most famous investor — Warren Buffet — as chief executive officer. Organisers opened the meeting with an AI-generated video of Buffett, which Abel called a serious risk Berkshire manages every day. However, when it comes to investment in a world enamoured by AI companies, AI models and AI stocks; Berkshire Hathaway seemingly wants to follow a different path. Greg Abel told shareholders that the conglomerate will adopt artificial intelligence (AI) only where it adds clear value, rejecting the industry-wide hype in his first annual meeting as the designated successor to Warren Buffett. He said that AI must improve efficiency, safety, or decision-making before Berkshire deploys it. To aid this quest for continuous improvement, Abel outlined the technology transformation underway across Berkshire. He said that Berkshire is moving from being a buyer of technology to a builder of technology solutions for its businesses’ needs. “We’re not going to do AI for the sake of AI,” Abel said, adding that the tech has to be “additive to our businesses.” Berkshire’s new boss said the conglomerate’s subsidiaries would employ AI prudently, in areas where it creates genuine value. According to analysts, Abel’s views on AI largely extend Buffett’s long-standing skepticism of unproven tech narratives, and stands in contrast to peers cutting jobs or rebranding around AI capabilities.Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance head Ajit Jain too echoed similar views on using AI applications in the company’s insurance businesses. Jain said that he views AI primarily as a tool for routine tasks and cost reduction but remains skeptical if it will replace human judgment in critical areas like pricing, claims settlement, or asset management. He pointed to railroad subsidiary BNSF, where targeted AI tools are sharpening operations, and to insurance, where the company uses technology to flag fraud and deepfake threats.
Warren Buffet attended AGM sitting in the front row
Though Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett was absent from the main stage, he still spoke at the meeting, delivering a short address to shareholders from his seat in the first row among Berkshire directors that focused on corporate leadership and, more specifically, successful transitions of power. Buffett, who remains Berkshire’s chairman, assured the audience that “Greg is doing everything I did and then some,” almost repeating the comments he made last year when he announced his retirement as CEO.The 95-year-old also praised Apple, one of Berkshire’s most successful investments ever, and its departing CEO Tim Cook. In fact, taking the example of Apple Inc, Buffett tried to convince investors in Greg Abel’s ability as Berkshire Hathaway CEO. He reminded the crowd that virtually no one knew who could successfully lead the iPhone maker after the death of Steve Jobs, and few investors knew who Tim Cook was at the time. Buffett, who invested $35 billion in Apple a decade ago, or about 10% of Berkshire’s resources, said that bet has since turned into $185 billion including dividends.
Greg Abel makes a ‘promise’ to investors
Abel also assured shareholders he would not break up Berkshire, saying that it operated effectively and its bench of expertise was strong. “We want Berkshire to endure,” he said. Abel also said that he is constantly evaluating opportunities to add to Berkshire’s existing portfolio, whether that is acquiring public or private companies or a piece of a company.
