Michael Fertik, a longtime Zionist and prominent tech investor, has launched his first Israeli subsidiary, Modelcode Chai, to modernize legacy code using artificial intelligence. As Maayan Hoffman reports [1], Fertik has invested in more than 15 Israeli companies but had never hired employees in Israel—until now. He cites Israel’s talent pool and innovation-driven culture as the perfect fit for AI applications, a field he believes will generate trillions of dollars in value.
Modelcode Chai, a subsidiary of his US-based company Modelcode AI, aims to use generative AI to streamline outdated code, a critical issue affecting industries worldwide. Fertik explains that modernizing old banking systems once took billions of dollars and over a decade, but AI can now achieve the same results much faster and at a fraction of the cost. He has already hired his first four employees—software developers and data scientists—and plans to expand his team.
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While Israel’s economy faces challenges due to the ongoing war and foreign investor hesitations, Fertik remains confident in the country’s role as a global AI leader. A recent Israel Innovation Authority report found that while only 4% of companies in the generative AI sector are Israeli, the nation ranks third worldwide, behind only the US and UK, in developing AI applications.
Fertik, who has spent decades in business and investing, hopes his move will encourage more tech leaders to recognize Israel’s potential. To learn more about his vision and the future of AI in Israel, read the full report [1] by Maayan Hoffman.