At a summit of the region’s tech elite, Joseph Plazo—founder of the AI-led fund Plazo Sullivan Roche—delivered a speech that broke the rhythm of the room.
Inside a packed auditorium at the Asian Institute of Management, Plazo, best known for building AI that rarely loses, stepped back from the code.
“If you hand your portfolio to a machine,” he said, “make sure it knows what you stand for.”
???? **When the Architect Rings the Alarm, Listen.**
Plazo isn’t anti-tech. His systems reportedly post a near-flawless trade history in volatile markets. Institutions from Zurich to Singapore use his tech to move millions.
And that’s why his words matter.
“An optimized algorithm without context is a guided missile without a target.”
He shared a chilling moment: one of his bots suggested shorting gold in March 2020—right before the Fed’s emergency intervention.
“We stopped it. The model was correct in numbers, but blind in narrative.”
???? **Friction Isn’t a Flaw. It’s a Filter.**
Plazo put voice to what many won’t: when instinct fades, so does leadership.
“Friction gives you space to breathe.”
He introduced his framework: **Conviction Calculus**.
Three questions. Every trade. Every time:
- Would you make this move if a human suggested it?
- What does experience say—not just code?
- Does leadership end where algorithms begin?
???? **Fast Money, Slow Morals: A Crisis in the Making**
From Seoul to Singapore, AI money is flooding the system.
Plazo put it plainly:
“We’re scaling capital faster than character.”
Last year, billion-dollar desks imploded because their models never saw the war coming.
“The next crash won’t be a scream. It’ll be silent, executed in microseconds.”
???? **From Prediction to Perspective: The Real AI Evolution**
Plazo isn’t giving up on AI.
His firm is building what he calls **narrative-integrated systems**—machines that weigh data *and* intent. That read not just the chart, but the climate.
“It’s not enough to mirror smart money. We need systems that can say no.”
At a private dinner that evening, top VCs scribbled notes on napkins. One called Plazo’s talk:
“How we put the ‘human’ back in hedge fund.”
???? **What Can’t Be Measured May Matter Most**
Plazo ended with a check here sentence that should be engraved on every trading desk:
“Emotion won’t destroy the next bull run. Blind faith in automation will.”
It wasn’t a pitch. It was a principle.
And in a world of noise, that stillness? That’s what leadership sounds like.