IFS, the self-declared pioneer of enterprise cloud and Industrial AI software, has done it again—this time by unveiling its latest power move: hiring Kriti Sharma as CEO of its shiny new AI playground, Nexus Black.
Because what better way to fast-track AI “innovation” than by slapping the word “agentic” on everything and hiring a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum to run the show?
Sharma, formerly Chief Product Officer for LegalTech at Thomson Reuters, is now expected to steer Nexus Black, IFS’s “AI innovation accelerator,” into realms where generic AI apparently fears to tread—namely, manufacturing, energy, aerospace, and construction.
And by “steer,” IFS means guiding teams to deliver contextual, real-world AI solutions that are supposed to predict asset failures and optimize supply chains, because clearly the world needs another software that promises to read the future and automate everything except your morning coffee.
“Our industry doesn’t need more general-purpose gimmicks,” Sharma said, trying valiantly to distance Nexus Black from the chatbot circus the rest of Silicon Valley is still hyping.
“The real revolution lies in contextual, agentic AI that solves deeply complex, industry-specific problems,” she added—an utterly digestible soundbite sure to thrill the boardrooms of asset-intensive industries everywhere.
Sharma’s resume reads like a dream for tech executives trying to sprinkle a little “ethics” into their AI stack.
She’s advised the United Nations, collected awards from Downing Street, and even held roles at Sage Group and GfK, where the emphasis was reportedly on building responsible AI rather than just hyping it.
But don’t worry—Nexus Black won’t just be Sharma’s solo act.
Joining her in this carefully choreographed AI orchestra is Nick Vandivere, another ex-Thomson Reuters exec, now named Chief Innovation Officer.
His job?
To stretch the “Industrial AI pipeline” to include what the company vaguely refers to as “frontier use cases” and to sprinkle some more innovation dust across the already cloud-bloated IFS platform.
Meanwhile, Mark Moffat, CEO of IFS and captain of the mother ship, wasted no time hailing this as a watershed moment.
“This is a critical moment in our AI journey,” Moffat proclaimed, possibly while looking out a rain-soaked window and contemplating the future.
“We’re not just exploring what’s possible, we’re building what’s needed,” he said, channeling every generic tech visionary quote ever posted on LinkedIn.
In corporate-speak, that roughly translates to: “We hired some very smart people to make AI do more stuff so we can stay ahead of the PR curve.”
Nexus Black, which sounds more like a Marvel villain than a business unit, was launched earlier this year to incubate AI solutions that don’t just chat—they act.
The focus now is on building what IFS calls “agentic” AI—autonomous systems that don’t need to be babysat and can theoretically make decisions on behalf of humans without burning everything down.
It’s a concept that’s gaining traction, though skeptics argue that wrapping every AI with industry jargon doesn’t make it any smarter—it just makes it more marketable.
Still, IFS insists that the combination of Sharma, Vandivere, and a mission to solve “high-value, industry-specific challenges” is what sets them apart.
If that sounds suspiciously like every other AI pitch you’ve heard in the last five years, that’s because it is.
But at least this one comes with British accents and the backing of a company determined to reinvent the wheel—this time with “contextual intelligence” and more layers of abstraction than a philosophy textbook.
As corporations scramble to inject AI into every aspect of their infrastructure, IFS is betting that focusing on industrial pain points will pay off.
Whether that gamble results in genuine innovation or just another buzzword bonanza remains to be seen.
But one thing’s for sure: with Nexus Black leading the charge, the era of AI that pretends to understand your industry is officially over.
Now comes the era of AI that pretends better.
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