05/01/2026
The New Investment Landscape: AI disruption in Israel and Abroad
Last night, the Master’s Program in Financial Economics – a joint initiative of the Tiomkin School of Economics and the Arison School of Business at Reichman University – held its annual financial forum. This year’s event, “The New Investment Landscape: AI Disruption'', focused on the attempt of both public and private funding markets to make sense of and capture value created in the AI revolution. The evening began with a compelling keynote talk by Mr. Shlomo Dovrat, Co-Founder of Viola, Chairman of the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University. Mr. Dovrat discussed the AI innovation cycle, the ongoing massive infrastructure build and the growth required in chip efficiency and energy supply to keep up with compute demand. The talk was followed by an engaging panel with Ms. Anath Levin, Head of BlackRock Israel, Mr. Avi Hasson, CEO of Startup Nation Central, former Chief Scientist and Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority and Mr. Eden Shochat, Equal Partner at Aleph, moderated by Prof. Shimon Kogan, Associate Professor of Finance at the Arison School of Business. The panelists shared their thoughts on where they might expect value to accrue, and how perceived opportunities and risks were driving their investments. Speakers all raised concern around the massive revenues needed to fund the computing power required to meet anticipated AI demand. They also conjectured on opportunities in Israel, and how it can maintain its Tech leadership despite binding size and scale constraints. Students were highly engaged, and the evening ended with speakers sharing their thoughts on potential changes in hiring trends and the impact on higher education.
The Master’s Program in Financial Economics at Reichman University, founded in 2014 by Prof. Zvi Eckstein and, Prof. Yaniv Grinstein, holds annual financial forums on key topics shaping the industry.
