VC AI Survey
Israel's venture capital leaders see AI as an amplifier, not a replacement
Across all three firms, one message was consistent: AI is a powerful tool, but not a substitute for human trust, commercial focus, and long-term defensibility.
As artificial intelligence continues to dominate the global conversation, venture capital firms are quickly adapting their operations, evaluations, and investment strategies to stay ahead. In a series of interviews with CTech for its VC AI Survey, senior voices from Red Dot Capital Partners, HiCenter Ventures, and Blumberg Capital revealed how deeply AI has become embedded in their work—and the limits they still see.
Danielle Ardon Baratz, Partner at Red Dot Capital Partners, described how the technology has already changed the way her team functions. “AI is already woven into our daily work … helping us process information faster, map markets with more precision, and prepare for meetings with richer context.” But she stressed that machines can only go so far. “At the end of the day, venture capital is fundamentally about people … AI can surface patterns and crunch data, but it can’t replace the trust and conviction that come from sitting with a founder.”
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Danielle Ardon Baratz, Lior Hanuka, Yodfat Harel Buchris.
(Photo: Omer HaCohen/Micha Brikman/Blumberg Capital)
That focus on human conviction runs parallel with an insistence on commercial clarity. As Ardon Baratz noted, AI startups that succeed “don’t just build impressive tech, they solve a real problem inside a workflow, and they think commercially from day one.” She also pointed to a constantly shifting environment where “infrastructure costs are volatile, regulations are evolving, and new foundation models are released every few months, turning yesterday’s breakthrough into tomorrow’s baseline.”
Read Ardon Baratz's full interview: “AI can’t replace trust”: Red Dot Capital Partners on the human side of venture capital
For Lior Hanuka, CEO of HiCenter Ventures, AI is equally transformative in venture operations. “We have adopted AI-driven tools for faster data analysis, benchmarking, and trend identification, which significantly reduced the time needed for initial screening.” However, he noted that early-stage investment always involves a forward-looking lens. “When valuing early-stage AI startups, we focus on future potential rather than current revenues. We assess market size, team strength, and the defensibility of data and models.”
Read Hanuka's full interview: “We focus on future potential rather than current revenues”
HiCenter sees major exit potential in areas such as “cybersecurity, … fintech and insurtech … medical AI, especially imaging and clinical decision support, and in energy optimization.” Hanuka also highlighted new frontiers, adding that “the Blue Economy could be truly transformative.”
Blumberg Capital, meanwhile, underscored the sheer dominance of AI in its deal flow. “Ninety percent of the companies we evaluate today are AI-focused,” said Yodfat Harel Buchris, Managing Director. The firm has even built “a proprietary AI algorithm to help us identify and evaluate opportunities across markets more efficiently,” which she said has doubled its pipeline.
Still, Blumberg applies rigorous filters to its AI bets, following what it calls the “6Ts”: “theme, team, technology, terrain, traction, and terms.” As Harel Buchris explained, “We prioritize startups with access to unique, hard-to-replicate data; products that become more valuable as they’re used; and moats that strengthen with every technological leap.”
Read Buchris' full interview: "Ninety percent of companies we evaluate today are AI-focused"
Beyond individual startups, Blumberg sees an important opportunity in infrastructure. The firm is looking closely at “AI-infrastructure that enables enterprise-grade AI agents, particularly platforms that address latency, cost optimization, observability, and security.” But structural challenges persist, with Israel facing “limited domestic compute capacity, underdeveloped model security and governance tools for regulated sectors, and talent shortages in AI-specific engineering.”
Across all three firms, one message was consistent: AI is a powerful tool, but not a substitute for human trust, commercial focus, and long-term defensibility. Whether investing in healthcare, fintech, infrastructure, or frontier opportunities like the Blue Economy, VCs are betting that founders—not algorithms—will determine who wins the AI race.
Explore the whole series here: https://www.calcalistech.com/tags/VC_AI_Survey
