Why network effects, taste, and rails are the new software moats March 5, 2026 In an era of AI coding agents, the true moats for companies now lie in four key areas: deterministic rails for critical systems, non-replicable network effects, genuine taste and strong branding, and core software infrastructure that is too integral to replace, says Lewis Liu I sit on advisory committees for several investment firms, and over [...]
UK asset managers pile into cut-price software stocks after rout February 25, 2026 Two of Britain’s largest asset managers have bolstered their positions in under-fire software companies in a bet that markets are overestimating the harm that artificial intelligence will have on their business model. Aberdeen and Rathbones have both added to holdings data giants like Relx, Adobe and Experian, arguing that the firms’ cratering valuations are largely [...]
Citrini Research report rattles markets as AI fears deepen tech sell-off February 24, 2026 A speculative research note imagining an AI-driven economic downturn caused a sharp sell-off in US tech stocks on Monday, adding to pressure already building from new AI tools. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 821.9 points on Monday, or 1.7 per cent, while the S&P 500 declined 1 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite slipped [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Starmer unease rattles markets; Big tech sell-off February 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed a fresh round of market unease as investors dumped the pound, UK equities and long-dated government bonds amid rising political uncertainty. The gulf in price between the UK’s short- and long-term debt – known as the yield curve – reached [...]
Visma hesitation tests London’s IPO revival February 5, 2026 Plans for what would be London’s biggest float in years are being held, as a brutal sell-off in global software stocks forces private equity to rethink. Visma, the €19bn (£16.6bn) software group backed by Hg Capital, may delay a London listing until the second half of the year, after markets turned sharply against the sector. [...]
2025 was set to be the year of AI agents. It was not. January 6, 2026 At the end of 2024, just over a year ago today, tech behemoth and OpenAI boss Sam Altman predicted that AI agents would completely upturn the workplace before year end. AI agents are software programmes which break down any given task into smaller, more manageable steps, allowing them to devise and execute them with little [...]
Visma IPO plans add to London’s late-year listings revival December 31, 2025 Norwegian software giant Visma is gearing up to be the latest boost to London’s stock market, as the City comes off its strongest year for IPO activity since 2021 following a late spurt of listings. London’s stock exchange welcomed 11 flotations this year, raising £1.9bn in total , more than double the proceeds of the [...]
Salesforce: UK profit surges as 300 jobs lost November 3, 2025 The UK division of Salesforce has made another huge round of job cuts as its profit jumped by 65 per cent during its latest financial year. The firm’s headcount fell from 2,964 to 2,673 in 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. The reduction comes after Salesforce also cut more than 450 jobs [...]
Could FTSE 100 giant Sage jump ship to the Nasdaq? October 20, 2025 Software giant Sage has become a rare beast in recent years – a highly valued technology company still listed on the London Stock Exchange. Worth around £11bn currently, the Newcastle-headquartered group is a firm member of the FTSE 100 index and showing no signs of its growth slowing down. But while Sage has stuck to [...]
Salesforce: Trust is ‘critical’ when it comes to AI October 16, 2025 Trust has become key when it comes to businesses using AI. As Salesforce’s Brent Hayward, head of competitive intelligence, told City AM: “I don’t think there’s any more valuable thing. If you’re in the business of working with other businesses or customers, then trust… It is the foundational level”. Hawyard insisted that this trust ‘layer’ [...]