Post by Steve Morris

The future of asset management won’t be decided by who has the most AI. It will be decided by who makes the best decisions. My final meeting before boarding the Heathrow Express at Paddington Station was with Julian Watts - Partner in KPMG ’s Infrastructure Advisory Group, Global Head of Asset Management, and Mainstream UK Summit’s Digital & Data Partner. After a week of pub meetups, customer visits and conversations with maintenance and asset management leaders across the UK, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish. Julian is one of those people you immediately recognise as thinking several years ahead. Having led digital and asset management initiatives across New Zealand, Australia and now the UK, our conversation wasn’t really about technology- it was about where the profession is heading. Four ideas have stayed with me. Industry Personality Types Organisations behave differently because they’re incentivised differently. Understanding the “personality” of owners, operators, maintainers and regulators could fundamentally improve the way they collaborate. Treating Systems as Assets Why do we only replace enterprise systems when they become a risk? The better question is whether they’re still creating value. Decision Confidence This was my favourite. The goal isn’t collecting more data - it’s collecting the right data. Every investment in data should improve the confidence of the decisions we make. AI as the Orchestration Layer The future isn’t one AI answering questions. It’s specialist AI agents collaborating - combining expertise, challenging assumptions, gathering evidence and presenting decision options while keeping humans firmly in the loop. The common thread through all four ideas was simple: Digital transformation isn’t really about deploying more technology. It’s about helping people make better decisions. A fitting conversation to end an incredible week in the UK. Thanks, Julian, for generously sharing your thinking. I’m looking forward to seeing KPMG bring this perspective to the MAINSTREAM Community community as our Digital & Data Partner. Which of these four ideas do you think will have the biggest impact on asset management over the bext 10 years?