Alternative ways to invest in AI, according to two ETF experts

While ETFs holding stocks such as Microsoft, Tesla and Meta Platforms have outperformed this year, there are other ways to play the artificial intelligence trade beyond familiar Big Tech names.

For those who want to ride the AI rally while still diversifying their portfolio beyond the tech sector, there are other fields benefiting indirectly from the AI craze, two ETF experts say.

Baird’s head of ETF trading, Rich Lee, and VettaFi’s head of research, Todd Rosenbluth, both said there is a wider choice of industries seeing AI gains than investors may initially think.

“We’re seeing trends towards health care, we’re seeing eCommerce companies,” Rosenbluth told CNBC’s Bob Pisani on “ETF Edge” on Monday.

“In the last four months, we’ve seen consistent flows and trends towards robotics,” he said, highlighting ETFs such as the Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO), and the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ).

“AI is going to empower the industrial space and robotics to make them more efficient,” he added.

ROBO is up 21% year to date, while BOTZ has gained more than 34%.

Rosenbluth also cited fintech as a future major beneficiary of AI.

“Even the financial technology space in general is going to be driven in part by AI,” he said. “It’s going to help advisors do their jobs better, it’s going to help investors sort through information better, it’s going to help processing.”

Lee said the industrial sector could also see gains from the technology as it becomes more incorporated into everyday workflow.

“[Industrial companies] are looking for better processing through automation,” he said. “They’re going to have to look at AI as part of their business processes to realize some of these gains.”

“So, we’re going to see AI creep into other sectors and industries we may not traditionally associate with tech or AI,” Lee said.