Milos Maricic

Book Milos Maricic for your event

AI is everywhere in corporate presentations, investment pitches and strategic plans. The harder question is whether what is being presented as AI is genuinely delivering what it claims.

Keynote speaker Milos Maricic helps audiences answer that question. His work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, investment and decision-making, giving leaders and investors a grounded perspective on how to separate genuine technological capability from marketing theatre.

Milos draws on evidence from inside some of the world's largest investment funds, alongside his own experience as an AI entrepreneur, researcher and advisor. Sovereign wealth and pension funds managing trillions call on him to assess whether the AI they are being sold is real. Bloomberg has quoted his research, while CFA Institute has published his method for distinguishing genuine machine learning from marketing.

A keynote with Milos Maricic gives audiences something they can take beyond the conference room: a practical test they can use themselves when evaluating AI claims.

From AI entrepreneur to trusted advisor

Milos understands AI from the builder's side as well as the advisor's. He has built and sold two AI companies, including the first AI-driven philanthropy platform, which was acquired by a sovereign wealth fund.

His quantitative credentials extend into investment technology. Milos ranked in the top 5% of Numerai, the global quantitative finance platform. Today, he runs SPEC Research, a Geneva-based research firm, bringing together his experience in artificial intelligence, quantitative methods and investment.

This combination allows him to address AI without getting lost in buzzwords or abstract predictions. He focuses on the questions decision-makers actually face: What is genuine? What evidence should you ask for? What separates machine learning from a compelling sales story? And how can leaders make more informed decisions when every company seems eager to call itself an AI company?

For audiences dealing with AI investments, vendors, strategies or transformation projects, these questions have immediate relevance.

A method audiences can use

Many conversations about artificial intelligence focus on what might happen next. Milos Maricic takes a different route. He equips audiences to evaluate what is in front of them now.

His talks combine research, evidence and first-hand experience to help audiences understand the difference between meaningful AI capabilities and claims that do not stand up to scrutiny.

Audiences gain insight into:

• How to distinguish genuine AI and machine learning from marketing theatre.
• What leaders and investors should look for when evaluating AI claims.
• Lessons from advising sovereign wealth and pension funds managing trillions.
• How experience as an AI founder changes the way technology claims are assessed.
• A practical test audiences can apply themselves after the keynote.

The result is a keynote designed to leave people with a sharper way of thinking about AI. Rather than simply hearing about the technology, they leave better equipped to question it, evaluate it and make sense of the claims surrounding it.

Research with global reach

Milos Maricic's work extends from investment funds and entrepreneurship to international institutions and academic publishing. He advises the OECD and the World Economic Forum on artificial intelligence, contributing his expertise to conversations about how AI is understood and applied.

He also co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy, bringing together perspectives on the growing relationship between artificial intelligence and philanthropy.

His research has reached major financial and professional audiences. Bloomberg has quoted his work, and CFA Institute has published his methodology for identifying the difference between genuine machine learning and marketing claims.

Milos was educated at the London School of Economics, NYU Stern and Harvard. Together with his entrepreneurial and advisory experience, this academic background gives his keynotes a foundation in both research and practical application.

A story that holds the room

Behind Milos Maricic's work in AI is a personal story far removed from the conventional route into technology and finance.

He grew up in war-torn Yugoslavia and later spent years as a BASE jumper, an experience shaped by environments where assessing risk and separating perception from reality carry immediate consequences. He went on to become an entrepreneur, building and selling two AI businesses before establishing himself as an advisor and researcher.

That journey gives his keynotes a human dimension. The story is compelling, but it also connects naturally with the central challenge of his work today: making judgments when information is incomplete, claims are difficult to verify and the consequences of getting it wrong can be significant.