Understanding Hyperscalers: Masters in Business with Ankur Crawford

Dr. Ankur Crawford, co-head of large-cap strategies at Alger, explores the intersection of engineering principles and investment strategy, emphasizing that fundamental change—rather than mere growth—drives long-term value. Leveraging her background as an Intel engineer, she analyzes the artificial intelligence landscape, arguing that while the current market faces supply chain constraints in power and compute capacity, the long-term potential for AI to democratize healthcare and education remains significant. She highlights the necessity of "life cycle change" in identifying investment opportunities, citing Microsoft’s cloud pivot as a prime example of a mature company re-accelerating growth. Ultimately, she contends that the current AI investment cycle is durable because it addresses real-world productivity challenges, and she advocates for a Socratic approach to portfolio management that prioritizes intellectual humility and the constant questioning of investment theses.