Non-public fairness big Warburg Pincus simply made a really fascinating new appointment. SK Sharma, an AI professional, has joined Warburg Pincus as a Senior Advisor, working with the agency’s Expertise group.
Sharma was beforehand Chief Analytics & AI Officer at Common Music Group, the place he led a worldwide group of AI researchers, knowledge scientists and strategists to develop services and products specializing in listener engagement, viewers progress and advertising and marketing analytics know-how.
He has authored 4 synthetic intelligence patents as lead inventor, and was behind patented know-how for UMG.
In his new function at Warburg Pincus, Sharma will help the agency in “figuring out, evaluating and supporting new funding alternatives and advise portfolio firms on worth creation initiatives with a concentrate on generative synthetic intelligence (GenAI)”.
Warburg Pincus LLC has greater than $87 billion in property beneath administration, and greater than 220 firms in its lively portfolio.
The agency is headquartered in New York with workplaces in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore.
Warburg Pincus famous immediately (Could 28) that Sharma has “deep experience in creating and bringing firms by way of the expansion stage and to exit”.
Sharma has served as a co-founder or working accomplice for 4 completely different firms, three of which have been acquired by strategic patrons.
As he defined to MBW on the MBW Podcast in 2022, Sharma grew up in Watts, Los Angeles and graduated with a Ph.D in Chemical Physics and Biophysical Chemistry from Caltech.
He went on to create medical prescription drugs, earlier than turning his hand to analyzing markets for the likes of Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.
In 2016, he joined the music enterprise – becoming a member of UMG through Ingrooves Music Group.
Dr. Sharma at present serves as Entrepreneur in Residence on the College of California San Diego Jacobs Faculty of Engineering.
“SK shall be a useful useful resource to our funding thesis era and portfolio firm worth creation.”
Michael Ding, Warburg Pincus
“We’re thrilled to welcome SK, who has been on the forefront of synthetic intelligence innovation and real-world software, to Warburg Pincus,” mentioned Michael Ding, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus.
“SK shall be a useful useful resource to our funding thesis era and portfolio firm worth creation.”
“GenAI is creating unbelievable alternatives, and I sit up for working with the group to establish and consider new investments and assist worth creation for the agency’s spectacular portfolio firms.”
SK Sharma
“I’m excited to be becoming a member of Warburg Pincus, which has been synonymous with progress investing since its begin and has a powerful observe report within the know-how house,” mentioned SK Sharma.
“GenAI is creating unbelievable alternatives, and I sit up for working with the group to establish and consider new investments and assist worth creation for the agency’s spectacular portfolio firms.”
In 2022, on the MBW Podcast, Sharma was requested about what “bemused” him when he first joined the music business, and “what took [him] aback in the way in which that the music business labored, notably because it pertains to its relationship with know-how?”
Sharma defined: “I’ve been extremely humbled by listening to people and studying from individuals. However, as you say, there’s actually issues the place you scratch your head and go, ‘Did that actually occur? Did somebody simply say that?’
“I feel initially, that was [because of a] lack of contextualization. Now everybody’s speaking about machine studying and AI – like everybody’s an professional – however I can inform you again in 2016, it wasn’t a factor. Only a few individuals have been speaking about these things within the music business exterior of Spotify. Individuals have been like: ‘The place’s this gonna go? Why would we do any of these items? What is that this actually gonna imply?’
“That was a bit uncommon for me, as a result of I used to be used to being in roles the place innovation and R&D drove success and progress. Being a scientist, you’re used to failure; it’s okay to check a idea. It’s the best factor to interrogate a speculation and go: ‘Hey, mea culpa, it didn’t work out. Let’s transfer on to one thing else.’ Early on within the music business, I used to be type of bowled over typically by individuals going: ‘I don’t fail; I simply don’t fail. You don’t ever wish to fail!’
“Embracing failure as a pure a part of progress, and accepting how one can study from that and do higher, is one thing I’ve all the time embraced. I used to be shocked that was not essentially an perspective that was embraced by a few of the people I met within the music business early on.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
