{"id":61719,"date":"2025-08-12T13:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T13:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/61719\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T13:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T13:51:10","slug":"2-world-class-ftse-100-stocks-that-look-resistant-to-ai-disruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/61719\/","title":{"rendered":"2 world-class FTSE 100 stocks that look resistant to AI disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UK<\/p>\n

Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to disrupt a lot of businesses in the years ahead. From tech companies like Google to travel booking companies like Flight Centre, a lot of business models are at risk. The good news is that there are many companies in the FTSE 100 index that look relatively insulated from AI disruption. Here\u2019s a look at two.<\/p>\n

This company could prosper in the AI revolution<\/p>\n

Ashtead (LSE: AHT<\/a>) rents construction equipment (eg bulldozers, excavators, generators, etc) in the US, Canada, and the UK. So AI isn\u2019t going to make this company obsolete any time soon.<\/p>\n

If anything, the AI boom could help drive growth for the company. Because in the years ahead, there\u2019s going to be a lot of data centres and semiconductor plants built for AI, especially in the US \u2013 Ashtead\u2019s largest market.<\/p>\n

Given Ashtead\u2019s offer, it could actually end up being a \u2018picks-and-shovels\u2019 play on the AI boom. In the same way that those selling picks and shovels during the gold rush made a killing, this company could prosper from the AI build out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that, despite the attractive long-term fundamentals, this is a cyclical company. In other words, it\u2019s vulnerable to economic turbulence (this can lead to less construction activity).<\/p>\n

Taking a five-to-10 year view<\/a> however, I reckon this Footsie stock will do well. Trading on a forward-looking price-to-earnings<\/a> (P\/E) ratio of 17, I think it\u2019s worth considering today (I hold some shares in my own portfolio).<\/p>\n

A timeless business that\u2019s not going away<\/p>\n

Another FTSE 100 company that looks resistant to AI to me is Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO<\/a>), the largest pest control business in the world.<\/p>\n

No matter what happens in the world in the years ahead as a result of AI, I suspect mice, rats, cockroaches, termites, flies, and wasps will continue to pester society. As a result, Rentokil Initial\u2019s services should remain in demand.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a risk that generative AI apps like ChatGPT and Gemini \u2013 which can be an amazing source of information \u2013 could help people learn how to eliminate some pests themselves. I think the majority of people will continue to turn to experts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth pointing out that Rentokil also offers cleaning services such as washroom hygiene and specialist disinfection services. These strike me as relatively resistant to AI as well.<\/p>\n

This stock \u2013 previously a high flyer \u2013 has experienced quite a significant pullback recently and I think it looks quite attractive today. Currently, it trades on a forward-looking P\/E ratio of 16 and offers a dividend yield of nearly 3%.<\/p>\n

I believe there\u2019s potential for solid total returns (share price gains plus dividends) in the years ahead at current levels. In my view, this Footsie stock\u2019s worth considering today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image source: Getty Images Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to disrupt a lot of businesses in the years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,31584,4698,4701,4702,4703,4704,4705,4706,4707,86,33056,33057,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-61719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-category-growth-shares","tag-category-investing","tag-partner-feeds-dbc-media","tag-partner-feeds-fineco","tag-partner-feeds-flipboard","tag-partner-feeds-msn","tag-partner-feeds-pluto-invest","tag-partner-feeds-sharesight","tag-partner-feeds-yahoo-uk","tag-technology","tag-tickers_global-lse-aht","tag-tickers_global-lse-rto","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}