David Plon, founder of Portrait Analytics and a seasoned investor, explains how AI serves as a 'smart filter' for news and data, accelerating pre-buy research and uncovering nuanced patterns in management commentary, accounting trends, and industry dynamics. He emphasizes AI’s strength in scaling high-level triage and context-building—not conviction formation—while stressing the importance of prompt engineering: treating LLMs like knowledgeable, skeptical colleagues rather than infallible oracles. Effective use requires tailoring inputs to task type (structured vs. creative), experimenting iteratively, and documenting decisions rigorously to build institutional memory. Institutional adoption succeeds when AI augments individual workflows rather than enforcing top-down mandates. Though current LLM memory remains limited and costly, larger context windows and agentic systems—capable of reasoning and reflection—are enabling more sophisticated, goal-driven analysis. Ultimately, AI’s value lies not in automation alone, but in amplifying human insight through better scaffolding, faster feedback, and deeper contextual awareness.