PIMFA Women’s Symposium 2026: SEI executive urges businesses to “think bigger” in the age of AI

Sneha Shah, EVP and head of SEI Next at SEI Investments (Europe), urged businesses to rethink how they approach leadership, productivity and organisational culture in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

During a keynote session at the PIMFA Women’s Symposium 2026, Shah said the industry had moved beyond simply experimenting with AI and was now “firmly in the age of AI”, with many people simultaneously excited and anxious about what comes next.

She described the current AI landscape as a “jagged frontier”, pointing to breakthroughs such as AlphaFold’s protein mapping technology and the rise of “vibe coding”, which allows users with no technical background to build apps using AI tools.

Shah said these developments had the potential to dramatically accelerate entrepreneurship and scientific discovery, adding that AI could help solve problems society had struggled with for years.

At the same time, she warned about the unintended consequences of rapid technological change, including shrinking attention spans, cognitive overload and declining educational outcomes.

Shah said: “We’re in this age of surveillance and cognitive decline at the same time. It is frightening because we’re just widening the gap between people who are going to thrive and people who are not going to thrive in AI.”

Shah also discussed the challenges organisations face in adopting AI effectively, noting: “It’s not the tools. It’s the trust.”

She said employees were less likely to adopt AI tools if leadership teams promoted productivity gains internally while publicly discussing headcount reductions and cost savings.