♦ «At some point, as an investor, I will say I want to make a profit. And that will mean that at some point you will want to have a more efficient, less capital-intensive approach» ♦ Meanwhile, China is growing rapidly through innovative technology, outpacing the US in some sectors, producing many skilled engineers, and raising serious questions about the future of the world balance.
Huge investments in data centers and excitement around artificial intelligence risk generating a dot-com-era bubble, as funds are spent without maximizing energy or technology efficiency, and expectations of quick wins appear rather exaggerated. In the short term, many investors will experience delays in profits, and companies will have to optimize costs and computing power. In the end, success will depend on the ability to obtain real returns and manage risks as well as possible, says Tariq Fancy, former director of sustainable investments at BlackRock, in a discussion on the ZF show Today's Opening. «I've seen astronomical investments in data centers. I was in Texas last month, and a guy selling turbines told me he could ask for whatever price he wanted because everyone is rushing to ask for power and data centers. But I think that will change when people realize that the profits are not coming as quickly as they would expect,» he says. Tariq Fancy is an investor, turnaround specialist and entrepreneur with experience in the private sector and non-profit organizations. He was the first global director of sustainable investments at BlackRock, the world's largest investment manager with $13.5 trillion in assets, where he drew attention through criticism of «greenwashing» practices in finance. On November 5, he also discussed within the SUSTENLANDIA CEO Forum 2025, the reference event dedicated to sustainability in business, organized by the Sustainability Embassy in Romania together with The CSR Agency. Between 2013 and 2017, Tariq Fancy built Rumie, a digital mobile learning organization used in over 150 countries. Prior to that, he worked in investment and private equity, including at banking giant Credit Suisse and MHR Fund Management, an investment fund focused on distressed companies. He has studies at Brown University, Oxford, Sciences Po and INSEAD. «I'm not saying AI isn't a great technology, but it's just like the early days of the internet when that bubble was created, and I think the same thing is happening with AI now. But I think there's been too little investment in energy efficiency. If you throw money around and build whatever you want, it's not energy efficient at all,» continues Tariq Fancy. In this context, innovation becomes an essential term, which Romania does not lack, and a recent ranking made by the Financial Times can serve as proof. Six Romanian companies were included in a top of the European companies with the fastest expansion, confirming the ability of local entrepreneurs to generate constant long-term growth, even in periods marked by economic and geopolitical crises. Their fields vary from energy and real estate to IT and services, and their performance supports the idea that the Romanian market is becoming more and more relevant, including through listings on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. «Maybe you're using the most expensive chips in the world, but I'd be curious to see designs that really set the stage for where we'll be, I think, in a year or two. People will say they can't cover losses indefinitely, and they'll look to make the technology more energy efficient, see if they can implement it with less computing power,» adds Tariq Fancy. Moreover, the conclusions of the ZF Innovation Summit Timisoara 2025 conference showed that progress is based on collaboration and a clear, shared vision. The participants discussed the role of universities, companies and the administration in supporting young people and new ideas, through funding and concrete initiatives. Education and innovation were highlighted as essential factors for development, and new solutions must respond to the real needs of the market. «It's a natural reaction. The technology is great, but it hasn't met the expectations of the revenue potential that people had in mind a year or two ago. Still, more and more funding is being raised, but at some point, as an investor, I'm going to say I want to make a profit. And that's going to mean, at some point, you're going to want to have a more efficient, less capital-intensive approach,» the investor continues. Tariq believes that China's economy has the potential to surpass that of the United States in the long term due to the efficiency and rapid pace of innovation demonstrated in recent decades. Currently, the accelerated development of the electric vehicle industry and the constant integration of engineering graduates in various sectors strengthen the country's competitiveness. At the same time, the US risks losing ground through inadequate policies and an emphasis on older technologies. So Asia seems destined to gain influence in the long term, and the balance of global leadership could be redefined in the coming years, he believes. «As a Canadian citizen, if I were running the economy, I would ask: who do we want to align with? You have to plan for where the world is going, right? It's like football. You don't run where the ball is, you run where the ball is going. If things don't change, I think it's pretty clear who's going to win.
What else Tariq Fancy said on the show:
Many of the investments I made in the 2000s, after the collapse of the dot-com bubble, recorded an annualized return of over 50%. What is really relevant is that I learned early on that when analyzing an investment strategy, not all returns are created equal. Therefore, essential is not only the yield obtained, but also the real risk assumed to achieve it. Theoretically, you can make a thousand percent return by playing roulette and taking the risk, but in reality, there is a high chance that you will lose money. Our solution was to target situations where we often invested in debt, making sure that the downside risk, or at least what we perceived as the risk, was protected. I talk a lot about the rise of Asia (…) I am beginning to believe that, in the future, China will take the lead over the United States. Forget the fact that they are communists, I worked there and nothing seemed communist to me, I thought I was watching the biggest competition in the world. It is an energy-oriented society; have lifted more people out of poverty in recent decades than ever before in human history. Ten years ago, they were nowhere (in the electric car industry – ed.), and this year more electric vehicles will be sold in China than all sales in the United States, including combustion-powered cars. A wrong mindset is that they are some kind of North Korea, and a correct one would be to say that they produce some extremely good things.