Artificial intelligence is expected to evolve beyond human prompts to develop content or the targeted personalized ads for products and services based on viewing or sales behavior to a more advanced form of the technology called agentic AI that can make decisions and act on its own, according to Fidelity Portfolio Manager Priyanshu Bakshi.
“We are in still the early innings of seeing the impact of this innovative technology, which I believe will take AI to another level,” says Bakshi, who manages Fidelity® Select Communication Services Portfolio (FBMPX).
In helming the sector-based, equity-focused strategy, Bakshi favors companies with sustainable growth that are likely to exceed the market’s earnings expectations, as well as secular growers.
He believes agentic AI has the potential to increase productivity, innovation and insights for the human workforce, as it can perform tasks independently and adapt to changing circumstances.
“Until recently, customers have largely experienced AI through hyper-personalized recommendations for products, services and content, based on their search, purchase and viewing history, all of which drives online engagement and prompts consumers to take action,” he says. “By employing this hyper-personalization, AI has led to much better efficiency and incredible value in connecting businesses with consumers to increase revenue.”
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In 2022, the rollout of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT allowed consumers to begin experiencing the power of generative AI’s ability to create content. Since then, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet quickly followed suit and successfully rolled out their own generative AI products, according to Bakshi, who believes functional agentic AI is poised to emerge as it builds on a strong foundation.
“While generative AI depends on creating content and human prompts, agentic AI extends that concept and is designed to act autonomously to make decisions and take action,” he says, explaining that agentic AI’s potential is far-reaching, from sales and customer relationship management to manufacturing and health care.
As an example, he cites the ability of an agentic AI assistant to organize a trip to align with a customer’s schedule and price range, booking every detail from airline tickets to hotel rooms and museum tickets. In a professional environment, agentic AI has the potential to execute complex sequences of events, including searching databases and prompting workflows to complete activities, according to Bakshi.
He says the leading innovators in agentic AI are Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL), by far the fund’s largest holdings as of April 30, representing 42% of net assets combined.
“Each has spent massive capital in the race to capture consumers with their AI-driven capabilities,” Bakshi says. “Both have the benefit of their existing infrastructure to build these new tools, as well as the broad audiences to virtually ensure rapid adoption.”
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Priyanshu Bakshi is a sector leader and portfolio manager in the Equity division at Fidelity Investments.
In this role, Mr. Bakshi is the sector leader of the global technology team. He covers internet platform stocks as well as Asia-Pacific mega-cap semiconductor and internet stocks. He manages Fidelity Select Communication Services Portfolio, Fidelity Advisor Communications Services Fund, and Fidelity VIP Communication Services Portfolio. As a member of Fidelity's Stock Selector Large Cap Group, he is also responsible for managing the communication services sleeves for various diversified sector-based portfolios. Additionally, he co-manages Fidelity Disruptive Communications ETF and Fidelity Disruptive Technology ETF.
Prior to joining Fidelity in 2015, Mr. Bakshi was a senior investment analyst at New Vernon Capital where he covered stocks in the small- and mid-cap space of emerging markets. He was also an assistant manager at Jones Lang LaSalle where his responsibilities included investment banking focused on the real estate sector. He has been in the financial industry since 2007.
Mr. Bakshi earned his Bachelor of Business Studies in finance from the University of Delhi and his Master of Business Administration in analytic finance and economics from the University of Chicago. He is also a CFA® charterholder.