"Technology and innovation are our path to success"
Noam Canetti, Managing Partner at EY Israel, was speaking at the "Israel 2030 – Build and Recover" panel at the Tech1 conference in Eilat.
"There is a national need to invest in non-R&D functions within Israeli companies, such as finance, human resources, marketing, and sales, to ensure that large companies can scale here, not just in the U.S.," said Noam Canetti, Managing Partner at EY Israel, during the “Israel 2030 – Build and Recover” panel at the Tech1 conference in Eilat. "Most state investments, including those from the Israel Innovation Authority, focus on R&D, but that’s only part of what’s needed to grow large, sustainable companies."
Canetti explained that Israel is currently facing a “perfect storm,” consisting of a global technological shift that is upending decades-old business models, ongoing internal political and social instability, and intensifying global competition from emerging innovation hubs.
He emphasized that since Israel lacks cheap labor, significant natural resources, or a large domestic market, “tech is what we have,” and global innovation remains the country’s primary path to economic success. He noted that the Israeli tech ecosystem has evolved - from being dominated by small startups to now including many mature private companies with significant revenues. Many of these companies, he said, are unlikely to go public in the near future and will instead seek private investment or move toward profitability.
The purpose of the panel, moderated by Noa Tamir, CEO of Calcalist, was to explore how Israel’s innovation economy can shape the country’s trajectory toward 2030, particularly as it navigates one of the most challenging periods in its history.
Irit Kahan, Managing Director, Head of Israel at Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, addressed global investor sentiment. Despite the recent instability in Israel, she said that international investors still recognize the strength of the local tech sector. "Trust in the market has not been lost, it simply needs to be maintained," she said, noting that confidence is rooted in the exceptional quality of Israeli entrepreneurs and teams.
According to Kahan, the ecosystem has matured significantly, with more serial entrepreneurs, on their second or third ventures, who understand how to scale companies and achieve successful exits. Global investors are seeking precisely these kinds of teams, particularly those building deep tech products with real competitive moats. But long-term trust, she cautioned, depends on restoring "economic and political stability."
She called for greater collaboration between the public and private sectors: increased investment in academic talent and universities, infrastructure in strategic domains such as AI, cybersecurity, and digital health, and the creation of a "pro-innovation mindset" through the removal of regulatory and bureaucratic barriers.
Tom Livne, founder of Grace (and previously Verbit), shared insights from his journey building a unicorn company. He stressed the importance of resilience—both at the individual level as an entrepreneur and at the national level. He pointed out that the tech industry contributes roughly 40% of Israel’s tax revenue and argued that building new companies, investing in them, and creating jobs represents a kind of “new Zionism.”
Livne expressed strong belief in Israel’s entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and adaptability, adding that developments in AI and advanced marketing tools will “give entrepreneurs wings.”
Operationally, he emphasized two key lessons: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” meaning that strong company culture is more valuable than a strategy that can be changed; and the need for “profitable growth” from the outset, rather than pursuing growth at any cost. He also urged Israeli entrepreneurs to take on harder challenges in deep tech fields like health and climate, and to better integrate underrepresented populations, particularly the ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities, into the high-tech workforce.
