Norway's sovereign wealth fund CEO Nicolai Tangen has taken a firm stance on artificial intelligence adoption, declaring it non-negotiable for the fund's approximately 670 employees. "It can't be voluntary. It isn't voluntary to use AI or not," Tangen stated in a recent interview. "If you don't use it, you will never be promoted. You won't get a job," he emphasized, referring to Norway's $1.8 trillion fund—the world's largest.
The fund has already witnessed significant efficiency gains through AI implementation. In an internal survey, employees reported a 15% increase in efficiency last year. Tangen believes this figure will reach 20% in 2025 and another 20% the following year, potentially putting the fund 50% ahead of competitors not utilizing AI.
The technology has transformed operations across the organization. Tasks that previously took days, such as monitoring news articles about investments in 16 different languages and structuring this information to assess companies' accountability, now take just minutes. The fund also uses AI to evaluate executive compensation packages, with Tangen noting that the system can analyze 40-50 page documents and determine with 95% accuracy whether the fund should vote for or against them.
The fund employs a diverse AI toolkit, with Claude by Anthropic PBC used by "100% of the employees," alongside Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Cursor, Open AI Deep Research, and Google AI. This technology focus has already impacted hiring practices, with Tangen announcing earlier this month that the fund won't increase headcount in the near future, instead focusing on "better efficiency through more use of technology."
Tangen's AI mandate aligns with his vision for the fund's future following his recent reappointment for a second term as CEO. He sees his role as "improving 1% everywhere, all of the time," with AI playing a central role in that optimization strategy. The fund, which invests in more than 8,500 listed companies globally and owns approximately 1.5% of all listed stocks, is using the technology to enhance decision-making across its vast portfolio.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund isn't alone in mandating AI adoption. Other major organizations like Shopify and JPMorgan Chase have similarly told staff to embrace the technology, with JPMorgan's AI use cases expected to grow from 400 to 1,000 within a year.