Tech entrepreneur Mati Gill joins Bennett's party, warns of Israeli brain drain and AI's political impact

Tech entrepreneur Mati Gill joined i24NEWS' Lynn Plagmeijer on Innov'Nation to discuss his decision to join Naftali Bennett's Beyachad party ahead of Israel's upcoming elections. He sat alongside AI expert Yonatan Zinder, Co-CEO of Blueye AI, who helped break down the growing role of artificial intelligence in shaping the election itself.

Gill, who helped form a political party roughly 20 years ago before moving into the private sector and high-tech industry, said he decided to return to politics following October 7 and under the current government, citing what he described as dangerous trends including "brain drain, the lack of investments, the downturn in the amounts of employees that we see in the R&D sector."

Gill said the country's leading innovators need to step into politics to help reverse those trends, and said he was proud "to be working to help Naftali Bennett be the next prime minister because he himself is a tech entrepreneur."

Asked about Israel's biggest challenges, Gill said the tech sector needs three things to remain a leading global innovation ecosystem: strong human capital, cutting-edge technology, and sufficient private investment. He said Israel is currently lagging in artificial intelligence infrastructure and needs to become a top-three player globally in defense technology, deep technology, and AI infrastructure.

The political hopeful pointed to the recent death of Nobel laureate Professor Ada Yonath as a reminder of the country's scientific legacy, and said Israel needs to strengthen its education system while working to bring back Israelis who have emigrated abroad. He said he hopes to help attract another million immigrants to Israel over the next decade.

Asked what distinguishes him from career politicians, Gill pointed to his entrepreneurial, "can-do" mindset. He said his primary motivation is ensuring a better future for his children in Israel, and said the country needs its most capable people working to fix fundamental problems.

Looking ahead, Gill said success in four to five years would mean reversing the brain drain, closing Israel's gap in AI and quantum technology development, and restoring investor confidence.

The conversation then turned to Yonatan Zinder, who discussed the growing influence of artificial intelligence on Israel's elections. Zinder said this election cycle will be shaped significantly by AI-driven deepfake content. As a result, it will become increasingly difficult for voters to distinguish real information from manipulated content, as well as large-scale AI-driven message testing used by political campaigns.

Zinder said he has been approached by political parties seeking to use AI capabilities for campaign purposes, and said all major parties are currently using AI in some form to influence voters. He predicted AI's impact will intensify in the final two weeks before the election, when Israeli voters traditionally make their final decisions, citing a recent survey showing 71% of Israelis encountered fake news while researching the election.

The Co-CEO of Blueye AI, also discussed his company, Blueye AI, which builds custom AI agents for traditional and low-tech industries in Israel, targeting operational bottlenecks in sales, customer support and recruitment. He said the technology is designed to offload repetitive tasks from employees, allowing skilled workers to focus on more complex responsibilities, though he acknowledged the shift will likely reduce the need for staff performing repetitive work.

Blueye AI recently sold a 49% stake to DB Group Investment.