New research from London-based fund manager Robocap shows that investors believe increased computational power will drive a breakthrough in AI capabilities this year. AI productivity gains should drive around 22 per cent of global growth.

Professional investors are convinced that increased computational power will lead to a breakthrough in AI capabilities this year. This was a finding from new global research with institutional investors and wealth managers managing assets of $513 billion from London-based fund manager Robocap.

The study with senior executives at insurance asset managers, pension funds, family offices and wealth managers found that almost all (96 per cent) believe that the expected 10-times increase in computational power, which is being applied by the big five US model developers to current AI models, will deliver a breakthrough in what AI can achieve. That will translate into increased global growth this year, the research from Robocap, an investor in robotics, automation and AI, found. On average, professional investors surveyed believe that productivity gains from AI this year will account for 22 per cent of global growth.

Robocap commissioned research company Pureprofile to interview 100 senior professional investors at pension funds, insurance asset managers, family offices and wealth managers, who collectively manage $513 billion in assets, during May 2026 using an online methodology. Firms interviewed were based in the UK, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany and Switzerland. One in five firms highlighted IT as first in line while 9 per cent pointed to transport and 7 per cent to healthcare and 6 per cent to industrials and consumer goods

In three years’ time, the percentage of productivity gains and global growth attributable to AI will increase to an average 30 per cent, the study found. Around one in five questioned believe that the increase could be 40 per cent or more.

The survey found that the impact of increased AI capabilities would be felt first by marketing and sales, with 31 per cent predicting that the sector would be the first in line for disruption followed by services such as law, finance, accounting and tax which was ranked first by 29 per cent.

Real estate and utilities were seen as the sectors most likely to be disrupted last by AI and robotics. Around 28 per cent said that real estate would be among the last to be disrupted followed by 20 per cent choosing utilities and 11 per cent selecting materials.

“The advance in AI capabilities over the past few years has been phenomenal as major model firms have increased the computational power used to train their models year-on-year,” Jonathan Cohen, founder and CIO at Robocap, said.

“This year it is estimated that the computational power being applied by the big five American model developers to train their next model will actually be up to 30 times more relative to the compute power current model and investors are convinced that the world is on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of AI capabilities considering weekly progresses,” Cohen continued. “That is translating into real world effects with the productivity gains from AI making major contributions to global growth which are expected to increase over the coming years.”

The Robocap UCITS Fund, which is a thematic equity fund focusing on pure-play robotics, automation and AI-listed stocks globally, was launched in January 2016. The fund, which is managed by a London-based specialist team, has delivered compound annualised net returns (CAGR) of 15.38 per cent and a net return of 359.95 per cent since its inception.