Latest / Engineering Alpha in Private Equity
The AI "Hoax," Economic Accounting, and Nobel-Winning ROI
In Episode 9 Paul Karner and Dave Mangot tackle a recent Fortune interview (https://fortune.com/2026/06/21/nobel-laureate-daron-acemoglu-ai-productivity-capitalism-democracy/) with Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, who argues that the massive productivity gains promised by AI are harder to achieve than presumed.
Paul puts on his PhD economist hat to break down what this skepticism means for private equity deal teams trying to manage their AI budgets. He introduces the concept of "economic accounting"—understanding the counterfactual of what a company could achieve without AI…
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