Iconomy Group CEO Raises Question on AI, Startup Valuation and Technological Obsolescence at Entrepreneur Summit 2026

14 February 2026

Singapore, 14 February 2026 – Iconomy Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Boo Kok Chuon raised a question on the impact of artificial intelligence on startup valuation during the Asia Pacific Entrepreneur Summit 2026, asking whether conventional valuation approaches remain sufficiently responsive to the accelerating pace at which technology and intellectual property may become economically obsolete.

During a discussion with members of the venture capital community, Mr Boo observed that advances in artificial intelligence are rapidly reducing the time, cost and technical resources required to develop software products and replicate functionalities that previously demanded substantial development effort.

He questioned whether this changing technological environment should cause founders, investors and advisers to reconsider assumptions traditionally applied to the valuation of technology businesses, particularly where significant value is attributed to proprietary software, capitalised development expenditure, intellectual property or other intangible assets.

Mr Boo asked, in substance, whether valuation models should place greater emphasis on the risk that technological assets may now face considerably shorter economic lives as AI lowers replacement costs and enables competing products to be developed with increasing speed.

The question reflected a broader concern about the distinction between the historical cost of building technology and its continuing economic value.

A software platform that may once have required several years and substantial capital to develop could, in a rapidly changing technological environment, face competition from products developed within a fraction of that time and cost. This raises questions not merely about technological disruption, but about how investors should assess durability, competitive advantage and the useful economic life of intangible assets.

Watch the exchange: Mr Boo’s question begins at 38:26 in the Entrepreneur Summit 2026 recording.

In response, members of the venture capital panel acknowledged the speed at which the technological environment is changing and explained that their investment and valuation approaches are themselves continually being reviewed and revised to keep pace with developments in artificial intelligence.

The response underscored an increasingly important feature of venture investing: valuation models cannot remain static when the economics underlying the businesses being valued are changing.

For Iconomy Consulting Group, the exchange reflects a broader approach to corporate and strategic advisory work that brings together economics, valuation, governance and institutional analysis.

Mr Boo said that the implications of artificial intelligence extend beyond questions of productivity or automation.

“AI does not merely change how quickly a business can build something. It may also change how long the thing that has been built retains its economic advantage. Once replacement cost, development time and barriers to replication begin falling rapidly, those changes should logically find their way into how we think about value.”

He added that this does not necessarily mean technology companies should be valued more conservatively across the board.

Rather, the changing environment may place greater emphasis on other sources of durable enterprise value, including distribution capability, proprietary data, network effects, customer relationships, regulatory positioning, execution capability, organisational knowledge and the ability of management teams to continuously adapt.

The discussion also illustrates why valuation should not be treated as a purely mechanical exercise.

Financial models inevitably contain assumptions about growth, risk, competitive advantage and the persistence of future economic benefits. When technology begins altering those assumptions at unusual speed, the valuation framework must evolve with the economic reality it is intended to measure.

Iconomy Consulting Group continues to explore these intersections between corporate strategy, valuation, governance, technology and institutional change as part of its work with businesses operating in increasingly dynamic markets.

About Iconomy Consulting Group

Iconomy Consulting Group provides advisory services across corporate strategy, governance, corporate structuring, valuation-related analysis and institutional development. Its multidisciplinary approach examines business decisions through the interacting lenses of law, economics, finance and governance.