By Lisa Morris
I have the privilege of being a member of Berkana, a global group of women in family offices. I truly value the international perspective on investment opportunities, philanthropy, and social issues that I gain from our intimate discussions. On our weekly Zoom call, the incredible Ambassador Josette Sheeran—CEO of Firefly Global Group and recognized by Forbes as the 30th most powerful woman in the world—used a phrase that deeply resonated with me. Taking Tom Wolfe’s famous moniker from The Bonfire of the Vanities, “Masters of the Universe,” she paired it with a stark counterpoint: “Monsters of the Universe.”
It instantly occurred to me that family offices are uniquely positioned to be Masters of the Universe, but they can equally become Monsters of the Universe. This is a profound choice for those holding this magnitude of capital. In my view, this distinction has never been clearer than in our current age of artificial intelligence and the ongoing debates surrounding its potential use cases for both good and destructive.
As the global debate over AI reaches a fever pitch, the conversation has divided sharply into two camps. On one side stand the techno-optimists, who view AI as humanity’s ultimate multiplier—a force capable of eradicating complex diseases, revolutionizing clean energy grids, and solving global supply chain bottlenecks overnight. On the other side sit the doomsayers, issuing stark warnings of mass economic displacement, algorithmic bias, and an irreversible loss of human control.
Yet lost in this binary debate is a fundamental truth: technology does not deploy itself, infrastructure does not build itself, and the future is not pre-ordained. Capital directs the trajectory of human progress. Family offices are an essential conduit for that capital flow, and the classic Spiderman ethos—”With great power comes great responsibility”—should inform every investment decision. For high-net-worth families and private wealth managers holding unprecedented reserves of patient capital, this moment demands deep reflection.
Every capital allocation decision carries a moral vector. In an era marked by rapid technological inflection, almost every major investment theme functions as a double-edged sword, capable of accelerating either human flourishing or systemic decay.
Consider the capital flowing into artificial intelligence and compute infrastructure. Deployed with intentionality, private capital funds safety-first architectures, groundbreaking diagnostic tools in oncology, and intelligent grids that drastically curtail carbon emissions.
Deployed carelessly in pursuit of quick multiples, that same capital finances predatory deepfake ecosystem platforms, autonomous weapons software, and engagement algorithms designed to exploit human addiction and polarize societies.
A similar dynamic governs the burgeoning biotechnology and longevity sectors. Family capital can pioneer accessible gene therapies and fund cures for rare diseases that traditional pharmaceutical giants overlook due to narrow market sizes. Alternatively, capital can chase hyper-exclusive treatments reserved solely for the ultra-wealthy, widening an already dangerous health-equity chasm and creating a world where biological resilience becomes a luxury asset.
I am deeply passionate about health equity. I believe health is a human right, regardless of where you were born or your ability to pay. For this reason, I have chosen to invest in Helfie.ai, a company that represents a genuinely transformative, positive application of AI technology. Helfie.ai is building a new operating system for human health that pairs every individual who owns a smartphone with personal, private health intelligence. Capable of detecting risk early and continuously optimizing well-being for just 25 cents a scan, it directly democratizes access to healthier living.
Even traditional asset classes like real estate and energy reflect this duality in capital allocation choices. Investing in resilient, energy-efficient housing developments and clean-water infrastructure strengthens local communities against climate volatility. Conversely, speculative land acquisitions that displace vulnerable populations, or bankrolling carbon-intensive resource extraction under the thin guise of greenwashed financial products can compound existing crises while exposing portfolios to severe long-term transition risks.
For years, the broader wealth management industry treated responsible stewardship as some sort of passive ESG checklist that rarely influenced core asset allocation. However, the simultaneous arrival of generative AI, climate re-risking, and socioeconomic fragility renders passive compliance obsolete. Wealth preservation across generations is impossible inside a fractured society. Preserving family capital across multiple generations requires a stable ecosystem, a resilient economy, and an enduring social contract.
To navigate this landscape, forward-thinking family offices are moving beyond simple negative screening to embrace active, intentional stewardship. This shift requires integrating ethical risk matrices directly alongside traditional rate-of-return metrics during initial due diligence. It means taking advantage of a family office’s greatest structural superpower—patient capital—to fund deep-tech and hard-tech innovations that require multi-year runways to achieve scale. Furthermore, it demands that principals use their governance seats to advocate for data privacy, robust security protocols, and responsible AI alignment within portfolio companies.
The debate surrounding AI and emerging technologies is ultimately not a technical question, but a human one. Financial capital is leverage; it multiplies whichever intentions direct it. As family offices map out their strategic allocations for the coming decade, they hold the power to shape whether technology serves humanity or destabilizes it. The fundamental question facing every principal and chief investment officer today is remarkably simple: Master of the Universe or Monster of the Universe—which will you choose to be?
Disclosure: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Anyone considering investments should work with an experienced tax professional before relying on any of the provisions described above.
Author Bio: Lisa Morris is Managing Director of AKS Family Partners LP, a single family office based in NYC. She has two decades of experience spanning theater, travel, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and investments.
She founded the travel company Road Concierge, which was later acquired by Internova Travel Group. A former Broadway actress, she is also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with NYSERDA, an EarthShot Prize nominator, and a member of several investment and impact communities, including NEXUS Impact Society, 3i, IPI/Campden, Top Tier Impact, Aura Club, Adoreum, and Gaingels.
She has held senior consulting roles with nonprofits including Epic Foundation, Mary Tyler Moore Foundation, and AKS Family Foundation, and as Director of Philanthropic Services for FORCE Family Office. She serves on several advisory boards, consults for companies from startups to public firms, and is a frequent public speaker and pitch coach. Her upcoming book, “Can You Rollerskate?”, launches November 2nd, 2026 and is available for pre-order on Amazon, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble.
