Evgenia Plotnikova
2 Jun 2026etn. Live at Panathenea | ETN Espresso
Dawn Capital & the Case for Managers of AI
Evgenia Plotnikova, general partner at Dawn Capital, introduces the firm's early-stage B2B software focus: coming in at the scaling tipping point with large checks for US expansion and executive hires. She calls AI the greatest platform shift but argues humanity still stands a chance, making the case for human "managers of AI" running teams of half people, half agents — AI may book your hotel in Athens, but you wouldn't let it buy your house. Full autonomy and reasoning are still far off, so for now it's humans plus AI, and perhaps managers first.
28 May 2026etn. Live at Panathenea
Evgenia Plotnikova (Dawn Capital): The Case for Humans in the AI Era
Dawn Capital general partner Evgenia Plotnikova introduces the firm — early-stage B2B software, coming in at the scaling tipping point with a large checkbook — and her stage talk with a portfolio founder on AI for complexity. She argues EQ is back in fashion, mapping where humans stay essential with a two-by-two of context and trust: low-context, low-trust sectors are 'AI or die' (e.g., BPOs), while high-trust, high-context work like mission-critical checks, regulation and tribal knowledge keeps humans as the product. She makes a case for human managers of armies of agents, runs through AI inflection points (Deep Blue, AlphaGo, Waymo, Figure's robot livestream), rebrands the 'SASSocalypse' as a 'SASSifer' that only some companies won't survive, and praises Panathenaia as proof you can build great businesses from anywhere with a 'global day one.'