The AI-First Company: How to Compete and Win with Artificial Intelligence

Ash Fontana

May 2021 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Lachlan Woods

About this audiobook

Artificial Intelligence is transforming every industry, but if you want to win with AI, you have to put it first on your priority list.

AI-First companies are the only trillion-dollar companies, and soon they will dominate even more industries, more definitively than ever before. These companies succeed by design--they collect valuable data from day one and use it to train predictive models that automate core functions. As a result, they learn faster and outpace the competition in the process. Thankfully, you don't need a Ph.D. to learn how to win with AI.

In The AI-First Company, internationally-renowned startup investor Ash Fontana offers an executable guide for applying AI to business problems. It's a playbook made for real companies, with real budgets, that need strategies and tactics to effectively implement AI. Whether you're a new online retailer or a Fortune 500 company, Fontana will teach you how to:

  •  Identify the most valuable data;
  •  Build the teams that build AI;
  •  Integrate AI with existing processes and keep it in check;
  •  Measure and communicate its effectiveness;
  •  Reinvest the profits from automation to compound competitive advantage.

If the last fifty years were about getting AI to work in the lab, the next fifty years will be about getting AI to work for people, businesses, and society. It's not about building the right software -- it's about building the right AI. The AI-First Company is your guide to winning with artificial intelligence.


* This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of a glossary and diagrams from the book.

About the author

Ash Fontana became one of the most recognized startup investors in the world after launching online investing at AngelList. He then became a Managing Director of Zetta, the first investment fund that focused on AI. The firm was the lead investor in category-defining AI companies such as Kaggle, Domino, Tractable, Lilt and Invenia. He has appeared in Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC and at the UN. This is his first book.