South African billionaire Rob Hersov said a new AI company he co-founded, Zero Point, was built in just 24 hours. He said the firm signed its first contract in the same week.
Hersov shared the details during a talk with Jan Hugo on The Relocated South African podcast, MyBroadband reported. He also spoke about how easy it has become to start a business with the help of artificial intelligence.
“In 24 hours, we had a look at a business out there and said we can copy that. In 24 hours, the team rebuilt that whole business,” he said.
Hersov co-founded Zero Point with Louis McLaren, Gerrit Steenkamp and Deon Fourie. He is also an investor in the company.
According to the report, Zero Point builds and sets up AI applications to meet business needs. It gives companies their own AI infrastructure.
Hersov said the team met a client soon after the business was created. The company signed its first deal that same week.
“The business is not even a week old, and it will be profitable by the end of the month when we do our first invoices,” he said.
He said this kind of speed would have been impossible a few years ago. He said it is now possible because of AI.
Hersov said his own children, aged 12 and 15, have written down business ideas. He said there is a company in Pretoria that could help turn those ideas into real businesses.
“There’s a company in Pretoria we can send the ideas to, and they will put the business plan, marketing plan, funding plan, and go-to-market plan together,” he said.
“In 48 hours, they could build the product. That’s because of AI. It’s because of engineers. It’s because of where we are today,” he added.
Hersov said people with a good idea have no excuse not to turn it into a business within days.
The businessman spent 31 years overseas before he returned to South Africa. He left the country in 1985 and began his career at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street.
He later worked as Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man at News Corp. He then led Morgan Stanley’s media investment banking team in Europe and joined the main board of Richemont under Johann Rupert.
In the 1990s, he was chief executive of Telepiù, an Italian pay TV network. In 1999 he started a digital sports media company.
In 2002 he co-founded Marquis Jet Europe, which sold shares in private jet time across Europe. NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company, later bought the business, and Hersov became Vice Chairman of NetJets Europe.
He also founded Invest Africa in London to link global investors with business chances across Africa.
Since coming home, Hersov has invested in several local firms. These include Cape Winelands Airport, Africa Padel and Africa Bitcoin Corporation, as well as a crypto mining company and a West Coast development project.
Source: this article is based on reporting by MyBroadband. Image: MyBroadband. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.