AI will solve all maths and cure cancer, predicts OpenExO chairman
Salim Ismail, chairman of OpenExO, predicts AI will solve all mathematics, unlocking breakthroughs in physics and biology that could lead to cancer cures. Speaking at a DBS conference, he noted AI capability doubles every 10 weeks and urged Asia to leapfrog legacy systems.
Salim Ismail, chairman of OpenExO and author of “Exponential Organizations,” predicted that artificial intelligence will soon solve all mathematics, leading to breakthroughs in physics and biology and potentially curing cancer. Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference, he said AI systems are doubling in capability every 10 weeks, with recursive self-improvement already at approximately 85 per cent, meaning each new model is used to build 85 per cent of the next generation.
“What happens when we get to 100 per cent? Nobody knows,” Ismail said. He challenged common narratives about AI, arguing it will not take all jobs and that AGI and consciousness remain undefined concepts. “There are 14 different definitions of AGI,” he said. “Next time somebody says we’re going to get to AGI, take a stick and beat them until they define exactly what they mean.”
Ismail emphasized that while AI is the most powerful technology ever created, 95 per cent of AI projects are failing because organizations are automating legacy human bottlenecks rather than rethinking processes from an intelligence-centric perspective. He cited the 1937 Nobel Prize-winning work of Ronald Coase, who argued companies exist because transaction costs are cheaper internally. “Today, it’s cheaper to build a product feature than to have the meeting about building it,” Ismail said.
He urged organizations to focus on adaptability and flexibility over efficiency and predictability, noting that Fortune 100 companies using exponential organizational characteristics delivered 40 times the shareholder returns over seven years compared to those that did not. For Asia, Ismail expressed optimism, saying the region can leapfrog to new models without unlearning decades of legacy thinking.
He called on Singapore and Dubai, the only two places he identified as doing proactive rather than reactive policy, to lead the rethinking of all institutions, from education and healthcare to legal systems. “Whoever figures out the future of institutions is going to run the world for the next 100 years,” he said.