IMAGE: AI Venture Lab
The AI Venture Lab was founded by Hyunjin Kim, an assistant professor of strategy at INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools, to build the world’s first evidence-based playbook for AI-powered venture creation. She researches how firms can manage data and AI to improve their strategic decision-making, and how these technologies change how firms compete and build competitive advantage.
The lab’s core mission is twofold: to provide real-world impact by helping thousands of global entrepreneurs use AI to build better companies and to serve as a research programme that generates insights into how AI is changing the startup landscape, which can inform policymakers, managers and investors.
Thank you for making time to chat with us, Prof. Hyunjin. Let’s start with the basic question—who is this lab for?
Anyone who has a fabulous idea and wishes to leverage AI to build and scale their startup—from ideation, business model planning, to execution of their venture. The Sprint is open to any founder across the world at the pre-seed stage who wants to learn cutting-edge practices on leveraging AI to build their business.
Tell us more about that. What makes this initiative unique?
I think there’s been a lot of different markets, Singapore being one of them, where there’s remarkable forward-looking policy as well as investment into growing a local startup ecosystem. And not just in Singapore, but in Abu Dhabi, Israel, London—you know, all outside of Silicon Valley, there have been significant efforts.
But there is still a stark difference in the number of high-growth startups and the amount of venture capital funding coming out of Silicon Valley versus the rest of the world. The AI Venture Lab is the world’s first platform built on rigorous, evidence-based research into how AI transforms how we build companies. Our focus is on “using AI to build better companies,” rather than solely focusing on companies that build AI products.
Our aim is to help founders, managers, investors and policymakers navigate our AI future—we study what works, run real-world experiments, and define best practices for building AI-first businesses.
Is the challenge a lack of talent outside Silicon Valley?
No, definitely not. There’s talent everywhere across the world. But there are challenges—such as access to the right information and networks, which have historically been concentrated in Silicon Valley. Many regions have tried to invest in building those networks and providing better advice to entrepreneurs.
Another challenge is building an ecosystem of capital—not just the initial investment but ensuring follow-on capital is available to grow at later stages when constraints arise. Even with sufficient funding, firms still face difficulties in finding the right engineering talent or scaling their businesses effectively. These are tough barriers to overcome.
It sounds like AI might be changing the game for startups.
Absolutely. What we’re seeing is a transformation in how businesses are built. Teams like Cursor and Gamma are scaling quickly with fewer resources—fewer employees, less capital—than before. The unit economics of startups is shifting; founders can achieve more with less, which is a huge advantage for entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley.
If founders know how to leverage AI effectively to scale their businesses, it can ease many of these constraints. AI brings new opportunities for experimenting, iterating and refining products at lower costs, helping entrepreneurs innovate faster and more efficiently.
Is Asia the right place to build startups, though? The West seems to have a “fail fast” culture that’s harder to replicate here.
That’s true, but the cost of experimenting is decreasing significantly with AI. For example, I had a founder who was sitting with a potential customer, and the customer had in mind a key feature that would be necessary for them. The founder was able to quickly vibe-code the feature on the spot and signed the client.
In the past, developing such a feature might have taken months with multiple engineers. Now, founders can iterate at lower costs and with fewer risks. Experimentation is becoming democratised, and that’s a game changer.
What is the focus of the lab in enabling these entrepreneurs?
The key is helping startups build better products using AI at the early stages. We’re also tapping into the global knowledge ecosystem, enabling founders to gain more information for refining their ideas and business models.
GenAI is particularly transformative—it gives entrepreneurs access to insights, helps them experiment, and allows them to scale quickly without the need for massive networks or capital. A great example is thinking about sales and growth–you can now personalise outreach with a small team, which would have previously required significant capital and a large workforce.
The lab sounds like a global initiative. Are applications open to founders worldwide?
Yes, applications are open globally at www.venture-lab.ai. We’re partnering with startup communities around the world, looking to enable diverse and talented founders from various regions.
Are there specific industries you’re targeting?
It’s open to most industries, though we’re putting less weight on those requiring physical infrastructure like manufacturing. We focus on ideas where AI can make a significant impact in building the business.
When do applications close?
Applications close on July 30. The Sprint launches on August 25 and runs for about eight weeks, culminating in a hybrid demo day. In the long run, we plan to have in-person experiences in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Paris, connecting ventures to San Francisco.
There is no cost to participate in the AI Founder Sprint 2025, nor does the sprint take any equity.
What does this venture mean to you personally?
For me, it’s deeply personal. Having lived all over the world, I’m passionate about ensuring that talent everywhere has the opportunity to innovate. If we don’t have diverse minds building solutions, we won’t find the right answers for global challenges. This lab is the perfect marriage of my research on AI’s impact on decision-making and my commitment to empowering entrepreneurs worldwide.
