No PriorsNo Priors

No Priors Ep. 131 | With Jared Kushner

Sarah Guo and Jared Kushner on jared Kushner on AI, global investing, and transforming Middle East ties.

Sarah GuohostJared KushnerguestElad Gilhost
Sep 11, 202558mWatch on YouTube ↗
Affinity Partners’ investment philosophy and global, macro‑driven underwritingIdentifying underpriced or underappreciated countries and marketsBrainCo’s founding, AI implementation strategy, and key enterprise use casesAI policy, energy infrastructure, and US–Middle East geopolitical dynamicsThe Abraham Accords and rethinking Middle East diplomacyCross‑border capital flows between Gulf states and IsraelPrivate‑sector leaders serving in government and lessons from public service

In this episode of No Priors, featuring Sarah Guo and Jared Kushner, No Priors Ep. 131 | With Jared Kushner explores jared Kushner on AI, global investing, and transforming Middle East ties Jared Kushner discusses how his firm Affinity Partners positions itself as a global, deeply involved investment partner that solves complex problems for governments and corporations, often in underpriced or misunderstood markets like Albania and Israel.

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Jared Kushner on AI, global investing, and transforming Middle East ties

  1. Jared Kushner discusses how his firm Affinity Partners positions itself as a global, deeply involved investment partner that solves complex problems for governments and corporations, often in underpriced or misunderstood markets like Albania and Israel.
  2. He explains the origin and strategy of BrainCo, an AI implementation and platform company co-founded with Elad Gil and others, aimed at bringing frontier AI into the world’s largest institutions through high‑impact, data‑rich use cases.
  3. Kushner connects his government experience—especially Middle East diplomacy and the Abraham Accords—to his current investing worldview, emphasizing macro tailwinds, governance quality, and cross‑border economic ties as engines of stability and growth.
  4. He also advocates for private‑sector talent to serve in government, arguing that the experience radically broadens perspective, creates outsized impact, and complements later business-building, much like a high‑intensity “two‑year business school stint.”

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

7 ideas

Use macro tailwinds and governance quality as a first filter for investing.

Kushner stresses that understanding a country’s macro trends, leadership, and regulatory stance toward private capital is essential; surfing great waves with even mediocre skill beats being world‑class in bad conditions.

Look for underpriced geographies and institutions, not just underpriced stocks.

With only ~200 countries but thousands of tradable companies, Kushner argues that entire nations like Albania or Israel at moments of perceived risk can be mispriced, creating outsized return opportunities for patient, informed investors.

AI value comes from concrete, workflow‑integrated use cases, not hype.

BrainCo focuses on large institutions with rich data, clear command structures, and complex problems—such as hospital throughput, insurance claims, hospitality bookings, and construction permitting—where AI can materially cut cost, time, and corruption.

A dynamic AI platform must continuously track model advances to avoid obsolescence.

Because base models improve rapidly, Kushner argues that AI implementations must be designed as living systems—updated as capabilities change—rather than one‑off, static projects that quickly become outdated.

Cross‑border pattern recognition can create non‑obvious investment theses.

By comparing how similar businesses operate in India, the Middle East, Europe, and the US, generalist investors can import models and monetization approaches others miss, much like Yuri Milner did with early Facebook.

Economic integration can be a tool of diplomacy and conflict reduction.

Kushner views capital flows and shared commercial interests—e.g., Gulf investment into Israeli financial institutions that then invest back into Gulf infrastructure—as practical mechanisms to normalize relations and reduce long‑standing regional tensions.

Private‑sector tours of duty in government yield asymmetric learning and network benefits.

He contends that despite stress, scrutiny, and pay cuts, time in government dramatically expands understanding of how the world works, builds unique relationships, and later enables more sophisticated and impactful business and policy initiatives.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

By being global, we’ve realized there are entire countries that are underpriced, not just companies.

— Jared Kushner

With AI, you can’t just assume tomorrow is going to be like yesterday.

— Jared Kushner

If I’m going to fail at a hard problem, at least let me fail in an original way.

— Jared Kushner

Change is like heaven—everyone wants to go there, but nobody wants to die.

— Jared Kushner

Once your mind expands, it never returns to its original size.

— Jared Kushner (attributing the idea to Einstein)

QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE

5 questions

How do you systematically evaluate whether a country’s governance and regulatory environment are truly investable versus cosmetically pro‑business?

Jared Kushner discusses how his firm Affinity Partners positions itself as a global, deeply involved investment partner that solves complex problems for governments and corporations, often in underpriced or misunderstood markets like Albania and Israel.

What criteria should enterprises use to prioritize which AI use cases to tackle first, given limited internal capacity and fast‑moving technology?

He explains the origin and strategy of BrainCo, an AI implementation and platform company co-founded with Elad Gil and others, aimed at bringing frontier AI into the world’s largest institutions through high‑impact, data‑rich use cases.

To what extent can economic normalization and cross‑border investment sustainably overcome deep‑rooted political and ideological conflicts in the Middle East?

Kushner connects his government experience—especially Middle East diplomacy and the Abraham Accords—to his current investing worldview, emphasizing macro tailwinds, governance quality, and cross‑border economic ties as engines of stability and growth.

How should policymakers balance the need to avoid over‑regulating AI with legitimate concerns about worst‑case scenarios and misuse?

He also advocates for private‑sector talent to serve in government, arguing that the experience radically broadens perspective, creates outsized impact, and complements later business-building, much like a high‑intensity “two‑year business school stint.”

For a technologist considering a government role, what specific skills or mindsets translate best from startup culture into effective public service?

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