Vista’s Robert Smith says enterprise software firms will be among the last to profit from AI—but that the gains will be huge

(Credit: Courtesy of Bloomberg)

Robert Smith, the founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, believes that software companies will be the ultimate beneficiaries of AI but only those that control their own data sets.

Vista, along with rival Thoma Bravo, was one of the first private equity firms to focus on enterprise software. The firms have historically been very profitable. Vista and its portfolio companies have made about 600 transactions in the firm’s 25-year history, Smith said during the CAIS Alternative Investment Summit Tuesday. Vista currently has more than 85 portfolio companies and $100 billion in assets under management.