At a summit of Asia’s brightest young economists, Joseph Plazo—founder of the AI-led fund Plazo Sullivan Roche—delivered a speech that broke the rhythm of the room.

PHILIPPINES — Plazo, best known for building AI that rarely loses, stepped back from the code.

“If you hand your portfolio to a machine,” he said, “make sure it knows what you stand for.”

???? **When the Architect Rings the Alarm, Listen.**

Plazo isn’t anti-tech. His systems reportedly post a near-flawless trade history in volatile markets. Institutions from Zurich to Singapore use his tech to move millions.

And that’s why his words matter.

“Speed is not a virtue when it lacks vision.”

He shared a chilling moment: one of his bots suggested shorting gold in March 2020—right before the Fed’s emergency intervention.

“We stopped it. It read the chart. But not the crisis.”

???? **Friction Isn’t a Flaw. It’s a Filter.**

Top managers are whispering what Plazo said out loud: we’re getting fast, but dumber.

“You don’t just need models. You need margins—for thought.”

He introduced his framework: **Conviction Calculus**.

Three questions. Every trade. Every time:

- Does this align with our values—or here just our targets?
- What does experience say—not just code?
- Will we blame the bot or accept the blame?

???? **Fast Money, Slow Morals: A Crisis in the Making**

Asia’s markets are surging—but oversight is stuck in 2015.

Plazo put it plainly:

“You can deploy an algorithm in seconds. Values take decades.”

Last year, billion-dollar desks imploded because their models never saw the war coming.

“You don’t need bad intentions to fail. Just a blind model with no brakes.”

???? **From Prediction to Perspective: The Real AI Evolution**

Plazo isn’t giving up on AI.

His firm is building what he calls **narrative-integrated systems**—machines that weigh data *and* intent. That read not just the chart, but the climate.

“It’s not enough to mirror smart money. We need systems that can say no.”

At a private dinner that evening, top VCs scribbled notes on napkins. One called Plazo’s talk:

“How we put the ‘human’ back in hedge fund.”

???? **What Can’t Be Measured May Matter Most**

Plazo ended with a sentence that should be engraved on every trading desk:

“Emotion won’t destroy the next bull run. Blind faith in automation will.”

It wasn’t a pitch. It was a principle.

And in a world of noise, that stillness? That’s what leadership sounds like.