AI Reinvent is a sponsor of the 2025 Duke University Xscent Venture Challenge. Ahead of the competition, Duke CEO sat down with AI Reinvent founder Tammy Sun for an in-depth conversation.
PART 01 About AI Reinvent
Q: What is AI Reinvent doing right now? What’s your vision?
In one sentence: AI Reinvent is redefining how people and capital connect in the age of AI — through knowledge and investment. We currently focus on three core pillars:
1.LP investment in USD-denominated venture funds.We concentrate on the AI sector, partnering with top-tier VCs who have deep expertise in frontier deep technologies. Beyond allocating capital, we’re building an entry point into the global AI innovation network.
2. Crypto-driven wealth management.As AI drives a new productivity revolution, asset forms are evolving as well. We aim to position ourselves early for the next generation of financial instruments and infrastructure.
3 . AI-focused social media and global community.Through international social media, we share insights and trends. Our “AI Global Club” connects talent and projects across borders.
These three engines reinforce one another: capital connects to projects, projects generate insight, and insight refines investment decisions.
Our vision is simple: AI is not just technology — it’s a force reshaping the fundamental logic of the world. We want to be both a driver of this transformation and a builder of the new financial paradigms that will define it.
Q: What are your upcoming plans and priorities?
In the next few months, our main focus is on launching a new type of asset-management business — a crypto-driven wealth management business.
At the same time, we’ve been building a global media network. The reason is simple: we want to connect global resources and opportunities both online and offline.
“Globalization” is the keyword. For our generation, the question is no longer whether to go global, but how to root in every market around the world.We use media as the front-end touchpoint — to collect information and networks — and investment as the back-end conversion — turning those connections into real capital partnerships and industrial synergy.All of these efforts revolve around one vertical: AI. Focused, deep, and designed to create a long-term value loop.
Q: What are your reflections on the arrival of the AI era?
My strongest feeling is that AI has reset the starting line for everyone.
The speed of change has exceeded our expectations. The next decade of technological and industrial transformation will likely unfold faster and cut deeper than the Internet revolution did.
Whatever resources or experience you accumulated in the last era, you now have to relearn and readapt — or risk being left behind.
Basically, those who have achieved big success before may be the most vulnerable if they cling to old playbooks instead of resetting with a beginner’s mindset.
Another realization: AI will probably go beyond what humans can imagine. For most people, the best thing you can do is get close to it, understand it, and start using it.For those of us who hope to catch opportunities in this wave, the first rule is simple — Don’t wait. Don’t observe. Start to do something.
This industry evolves almost by the day. A technology that seems cutting-edge today might be obsolete tomorrow; a business logic that works this month might collapse next month. That’s why we constantly refresh our understanding of the market.
To stay attuned to these shifts, AI Reinvent now hosts online and offline events every month around the world, bringing together investors, founders, technologists, and academics. People often ask why we invest so much time in this — the reason is simple: it keeps us close to the frontier, and it allows us to share first-hand insights with a broader audience.
PART 02 About AI Investment
Q: Why choose to enter the USD-fund investment track now — essentially as a “freshman”?
Honestly, I chose this timing because I believe now is the real beginning.
During the last Internet boom, we were still too young — lacking resources, skills, and perspective. But after these years of learning, our team now has both the experience and the global outlook to start again from a stronger foundation.
Earlier in my career path, I co-founded a SaaS company in North America. That experience gave me a deeper feel for industrial cycles. To be candid, I came to a clear conclusion: the golden era of SaaS is over.It was a business model that rose with the Internet generation boom, but in today’s Western markets, the sector is entering structural decline — even systemic contraction. That realization convinced me to leave that field entirely.
As for why investment — it’s both a product of the times and a reflection of my personality, I’ve always been curious and eager to expand boundaries through constant learning and dialogue.In this age of AI, the opportunities available to individuals are limited — but investment allows me to maximize the leverage of my former experience and network. It keeps me at the frontier of change, and lets me take part in shaping what’s next.
Q: What qualities define an exceptional AI-era founder?
First and foremost, adaptability. Technology moves so fast that what worked yesterday may be obsolete tomorrow. Only founders who can pivot quickly and keep learning will survive the pace of change.
Second, emotional stamina. Without strong inner resilience, it’s impossible to handle constant uncertainty or lead a team through repeated trial and error.That’s why we tend to favor young founders — they’re often more resilient and driven. Background and pedigree matter, but they’re not decisive.What we value most is a founder who’s willing to get their hands dirty and operate in sync with the pulse of the era.
Q: Which AI sub-sectors are you most optimistic about?
On the application side, we favor companies that go deep into specific scenarios and solve real problems.What matters isn’t how flashy the tech is, but whether you’re addressing a genuine need — and how deeply you can solve it.
Many current projects exist “for AI’s sake,” and those models usually fade quickly because they lack real value barriers.
In terms of direction, we pay close attention to fields that can drive structural change in society — such as AI + healthcare, or deep-tech areas like intelligent robotic arms that tangibly improve people’s lives. These are where we see the biggest long-term potential.
PART 03 Looking Ahead
Q: What’s your outlook for the future?
I have three fairly clear convictions:
•The structure of companies will fundamentally change. Future enterprises will be smaller — lighter organizations, flatter management, lower relational dependency — while technical capability becomes the true core competence.The “one-person company” model will likely emerge at scale. Many teams of just one to three people will generate millions — even hundreds of millions— in revenue, overturning the old Internet-era logic of big corporations.
•The capital landscape will be rapidly reshaped.We’re witnessing “old money” slowly exiting and “new money” rising fast. Behind this shift in capital flow lies a global realignment of industries and power structures.
•AI’s impact will go far beyond our imagination.What we’re seeing now is only the beginning. Many of today’s approaches are mere transitions.The way humans live and the way societies are structured may both be rewritten entirely.
AI Reinvent Ventures
AI Reinvent Ventures is an investment management firm that specializes in strategic funds and early-stage AI investments. We act as limited partners (LPs) for venture capital (VC) funds, while also pioneering cryptocurrency-based asset management.
AI Reinvent also includes an AI-focused global social media network and has launched the AI Global Club.
