FutureofAI:

Perspectives

2025

forStartups

Tableof

contents

02Foreword

04AIpredictions

08Adviceforfounders

14What’snextinAI:Perspectivesofindustryleaders

JamesTromans

AminVahdat

ManagingDirector,Web3,GoogleCloud

VP/GMML,Systems,andCloudAI,GoogleCloud

JenniferLi

ApoorvAgrawal

GeneralPartner,a16z

Partner,AltimeterCapital

JerryChen

Partner,Greylock

ArvindJain

FounderandCEO,Glean

JiaLi

ChamathPalihapitiya

Co-Founder,PresidentandChiefAIOfficer,LiveXAI

FounderandCEO,SocialCapital,

andCo-FounderandCEO,8090

JillGreenbergChase

CrystalHuang

GeneralPartner,GV

DavidFriedberg

CEO,OhaloGenetics

InvestmentPartner,CapitalG

MatthieuRouif

Co-FounderandCEO,Photoroom

MayadaGonimah

DouweKiela

CEO,ContextualAI

CTOandCo-Founder,ThreadAI

RavirajJain

DylanFox

EdoLiberty

Partner,Lightspeed

FounderandCEO,AssemblyAI

SalimTeja

Partner,RadicalVentures,andBoardMember,

FounderandCEO,Pinecone

AspectBiosystems,PromiseRobotics,IntrepidLabs

EladGil

CEO,GilCapital

HarrisonChase

SarahGuoFounderandPartner,ConvictionMikeVernalPartner,Conviction

YoavShoham

CEOandCo-Founder,LangChain

ProfessorEmeritusofComputerScience,

StanfordUniversity,andCo-Founder,AI21Labs

72BuildthefuturewithGoogleCloud

01

Foreword

AIistransformingeveryorganizationaroundtheworldandrepresentsanunprecedentedopportunitytosolvecomplexproblems,drivegrowth,createefficiencies,andopenupnewbusinessopportunities.Thisisparticularlytrueforstartups,whoaremovingveryquicklytoaddressnewmarketopportunitieswithAI.

GoogleCloudisatthecenterofAIinnovation,andwe’reproudofourtechnologyleadershipthatcontinuestopushtheboundariesof

what’spossibleforourcustomers,includingmorethan60percentofallfundedgenerativeAIstartupsglobally.Weareexcitedtopartner

withstartups,theventurecapitalcommunity,andindustryleaderstoensurethatfoundersandtheirteamshaveaccesstothetechnologythatwillhelpthemredefinethefuture.

ThomasKurian

CEO,GoogleCloud

02

03

Googleisbuildingallthecomponents

oftheAItechnologystack,fromcustomchips,todatacenterstofrontiermodels.Asaresult,

ournewGemini2.0modelsaremorecapable,fasterandmoreefficientthanpreviousversions.

Thesemodelsarenativelymultimodal—theyareabletoprocesstext,images,audioand

video.Theycanalsogenerateimagesand

steerabletext-to-speechaudio.Withlong

contextwindowsofupto2millionstokens,Geminicanpoweradvancedapplications

thatrequiredeepunderstandingandmemory.

Additionally,Thinkingmodeliscapableof

showingreasoningskillsforsolvingcomplex

problems,whichisespeciallyusefulinmath

andscience.Geminicanalsonativelyuse

toolslikeGoogleSearchtoaccessreal-time

information,andDeepMind’sProjectMariner

hasdemonstratedthatagentsbuiltwiththe

Geminimodelcancompletetasksusingawebbrowser.Conversationalexperiencescannow

bebuiltwiththeGeminiMultimodalLiveAPI,

whichacceptsaudioandvideostreaminginput.

Thecombinationofthesecapabilitiesenablesanewclassofagenticexperiencesand

we’reexcitedtoseewhatstartupsbuildwithGeminiin2025.

DavidThacker

VP,Product,GoogleDeepMind

01

02

03

AI

predictions

04

05

AminVahdat

VP/GMML,Systems,andCloudAI,GoogleCloud

Tightsynchronizationandmassive

computerequirementswillpushinfrastructuretonever-seen-beforelevelsofcompute

densityandcapability.

ApoorvAgrawal

Partner,AltimeterCapital

ArvindJain

FounderandCEO,Glean

Bycombiningvoice,vision,andnaturallanguage,multimodalAIwillreduce

theneedfordeviceslikecomputersandcellphonesandmakeinteractingwiththedigitalworldmoreseamless.

AIwillcontinuetobeatooltoaugmenthumancapabilities,notreplacethem.TheconceptofAI-basedemployeesperpetuatesalimitedperspectivethathindersthetruepotential

ofbothAIandhumanintelligence.

ChamathPalihapitiya

FounderandCEO,SocialCapital,andCo-FounderandCEO,8090

CrystalHuang

GeneralPartner,GV

Micro-boomsandbustsinAIwillbeinevitableasthetoolingfor

buildinggenerativeAIapplicationsbecomesmorereadilyavailable

andthereforecommoditized.

Thefutureofsoftwareisaboutdoingmore

withless.WithAIautomation,thesoftware

industrywillgetmoreefficientandtheaverageprofitmarginoftheS&P500willdoubleas

companiesgetmoreandpayless.

DouweKiela

CEO,ContextualAI

LongcontextandRAGwillconverge.Modelsmaylearnhowtodecidewhentouselongcontextandwhento

useRAGtooptimizebothaccuracyandefficiency.

DavidFriedberg

CEO,OhaloGenetics

TheindustriesIthinkaremostsusceptible

toAI-driventransformationaremedia,SaaS

andbiology(therapeuticdrugsandagriculture).

Forexample,genomelanguagemodelswill

beabletopredicttheexactDNAsequence

neededforanydesiredplanttraitorbiologic

drug,revolutionizingagricultureandhumanhealth.

Alpredictions

EdoLiberty

FounderandCEO,Pinecone

DylanFox

FounderandCEO,AssemblyAI

ThefastestROIinAIisinagents,butthebiggestopportunity

isinenterprisesearch.

ThetimelineforwidespreadenterpriseadoptionofAIwillbeslowerthanpeoplethink.Alotoflast-mileissuesneedtobesolvedthataren’tobviousuntilyou’redeepintothem.

HarrisonChase

CEOandCo-Founder,LangChain

Totrulyleverageagenticsystems,we

willneedthemtoscalebeyondjustwhatwecanaskthemtodo—tobe‘a(chǎn)mbientagents’,runninginthebackground,

alwayson,monitoringstreamsofevents,andalertingmeonlywhensomething

interestinghappens.

JenniferLi

GeneralPartner,a16z

ItwilltakelongerthanpeopleexpectforAIagentstotrulygomainstream.

Modelreasoningcapabilitieswillneed

toimprove,butit’sreallytheinfrastructurethatwillbeleveragedbyagentsanddeep-rootedsystemsintegrationproblemsthatwillneedtobesolved.

EladGil

CEO,GilCapital

AIismassivelyunderhyped.

WeareintheearlystagesofahugetransformativewavedrivenbyAI,

withtraditionalmachinelearning,

suchasself-drivingcars,finallyhitting

itsstride,andgenerativeAIinitsinfancy.

JamesTromans

ManagingDirector,Web3,GoogleCloud

Youmayenduptrustingyourweb3-enabledAIagentmorethanyoutrustanyoneelse.You’lltellitwaymore

thingsthanyouwouldtellsomeoneelse.Itwillknowallaboutyouandusethatinformationtoassistyou.

JiaLi

JerryChen

Partner,Greylock

Co-Founder,PresidentandChiefAIOfficer,LiveXAI

IenvisionafuturewhereAIagentsseamlessly

integrateintodailylifeandourinteractionswith

AIbecomemorehuman-like—withagentsthat

cannotonlyunderstandlanguagebutalsoperceiveandrespondtovisualcues.

ThefinalbusinessmodelsforAIhavenotbeenpioneeredyet,anditwilltaketimefor

investorstounderstandthem.

06

07

JillGreenbergChase

InvestmentPartner,CapitalG

Foundationmodelswillremainfairlystaticintheircapabilitiesforthenext18months,leavingampleopportunityforstartupstobuildspecialized

AIsolutionsthatdeliveraclearreturnoninvestment.

MatthieuRouif

Co-FounderandCEO,Photoroom

AIwillunderstandandadaptto

humanemotion.AIwillgetbetterat

understandingwhattriggersemotionsinhumans,allowingforstoriesandcontenttobepersonalizedandadaptedto

individualemotionalresponses.

RavirajJain

Partner,Lightspeed

MayadaGonimah

CTOandCo-Founder,ThreadAI

Themostsignificant

technologicalchangeswilloccurinfoundationmodelsforthephysicalworld,

especiallyinrobotics.

We’reseeingasuddenexplosionofmodels,

solutionsandtoolingthatarebeingrushedtomarketwhentheyhaven’tproventoactuallymovetheneedle—whetherwithROIorbyfundamentallychangingthedeveloperecosystem.Alotoftheselibrariesaregoingtodieorgetlessandlessfunding.

SarahGuo

FounderandPartner,Conviction

MikeVernal

SalimTeja

Partner,RadicalVentures,

andBoardMember,AspectBiosystems,PromiseRobotics,IntrepidLabs

Thelandscapewillshiftfrombuilding

biggerandbettermodelstoprioritizingthewidespreadimplementation

ofAIacrossindustriestosolvereal-

worldproblemsandgeneratetangiblevalueforbusinessesandsociety.

Partner,Conviction

WhenitcomestoAI,themostusefuldata

isoftentiedtospecific,real-worldusecases.Inmanyinstances,thatleavesthefieldopentonewentrants.

YoavShoham

ProfessorEmeritusofComputerScience,StanfordUniversity,andCo-Founder,AI21Labs

Theearlydaysof“promptandpray”AI—simplyfeedingalanguagemodelapromptandhopingforagoodresult—areover.Tomeetthecriticaldemandsofenterprises,weneedrobust“AIsystems”thatorchestratemultiplemodelsandtoolsforreliableresults.

01

02

03

founders

Advicefor

08

09

Alignpricingwithvaluedelivered.

Don’tjustuseaper-seatmodel,butconsider

usage-basedorvalue-basedpricing.Yourpricing

shouldreflectthevalueyourproductprovidestousers.

ApoorvAgrawal

Partner,AltimeterCapital

Computationwillbemuchfaster,cheaper,andmorereliable

astimegoeson.

Let’ssayyouhavethisamazingidea,allyouneedistoreducecomputecostsbyafactorof10oreven100forittobeprofitable.Thatisnowwithinreach.

AminVahdat

VP/GMML,Systems,andCloudAI,GoogleCloud

Themostimpressivefoundingteamsarefanaticalabout

ViewAIasaway

toincreasetopline

revenueandopenup

newopportunitiesforinnovation,notjustasatooltodriveefficiencyandcutcosts.

ArvindJain

FounderandCEO,Glean

documenting,codifying,

andmeasuringtheirprocesses.

Theywanttobethebestattestingoutbestpractices,writingdownwhatworksandsharingitacrossthe

organization.I’vefoundthathavingaculturethat

appreciatesdocumentation(withinreason!)isrelated

tooperationalexcellenceinotherways.

CrystalHuang

GeneralPartner,GV

Focusonbuildingpointfeatures,

notpointproducts.

Prioritizedevelopinghigh-value,specific

functionalitiesinsteadofcreating

comprehensivesoftware.Thisallows

competitioninmarketswherelarger

companiescouldreplicatefeaturesusingAI.

ChamathPalihapitiya

FounderandCEO,SocialCapital,andCo-FounderandCEO,8090

10

Movefast.

Timetomarketisthemost

importantthingforastartup,

andthemarketisnow.

ThingsaremovingincrediblyfastinAI,soyouhavetomakesureyou’renotleftbehind.

DouweKiela,

CEO,ContextualAI

Youneedsomeengine

ofvaluecreationthat

givesyoutheabilityto

persistaninitialadvantagefollowingthelaunchof

anAI-enabledoffering,

eitherdatagenerationforcontinuousperformanceimprovements,ornetworkeffects.It’snotenough

tojustbeanLLMwrapper.

DavidFriedberg

CEO,OhaloGenetics

Startwithout-of-the-boxsolutions.

Insteadofbuildingeverythingfromscratch,startups

canuseexistingtoolstoquicklygetaproduction-readyproductthattheycantestandmonetize.

EdoLiberty

FounderandCEO,Pinecone

Insteadofaimingfor

general-purposeAI,

focusonsolvingspecificnicheproblemswith

alotofdepth.

DylanFox

FounderandCEO,AssemblyAI

Findsomething

peoplereallycareabout,shipitasfastasyoucan,testwhetherpeople

careornot,theniteratefromthere.

EladGil

CEO,GilCapital

11

Companiesdonotneeddecentralizationfor

decentralization’ssake.

Instead,applythebenefitsofweb3—suchascheaperpaymentrails,

auditability,andtransparency—toAIagentssolvingcustomerusecases.

JamesTromans

ManagingDirector,Web3,GoogleCloud

Prioritizeevaluations.

Developevaluations

immediatelytobetter

scopetheproblem.Havingclearmetricsandwaystoassesstheperformance

Understand

modelcapabilityandmarryitwithwhatuserswant,that’sthemagic.

JenniferLi

GeneralPartner,a16z

ofanAIsystemarecrucialfromtheoutset.

HarrisonChase

CEOandCo-Founder,LangChain

Donot

underestimate

thepowerof

dataandfocus

oncollecting

diverse,high-

qualitydatawhileensuringsecurityandprivacy.

JiaLi

Co-Founder,President

andChiefAIOfficer,LiveXAI

HowyoumonetizeandsellAIisas

importantashowyoubuildit.

Ifyoucanflipthebusiness

modelagainstyourcompetitors,that’spowerfulbecauseit’shardforincumbentstoswitch.

JerryChen

Partner,Greylock

Fromtheoutset

demonstratestrongproduct-marketfit,adistinctcompetitiveadvantage,and

aclearpathtoprofitability.

JillGreenbergChase

InvestmentPartner,CapitalG

12

Designyouruser

experienceinawaythathelpspeople

accomplishtheir

goalswithouthavingtouseprompts.

MatthieuRouif

Co-FounderandCEO,Photoroom

TakeanopinionatedviewofwhereAI

BuiIdwith‘a(chǎn)gnostic,

infrastructurethatletsyoutakeadvantageof

thebest-in-classmodelsanddatabasesthatareconstantlychanging.

MayadaGonimah

CTOandCo-Founder,ThreadAI

capabilities,toolingandinfrastructure

aregoingtogoandbuildaproductthatbridgesthegaponthatcapabilitytoday,keepinginmind

thattheunderlyingenginewillimprovesignificantIy.

RavirajJain

Partner,Lightspeed

InvestinappliedAIresearchcapabilities,understandthe

AItechnologylandscape,identify

keyopportunitiesfordifferentiation’focusonsolvingreal-worldproblems,andbepreparedfortheriseof

agenticAI.

SaIimTeja

Partner,RadicalVenturesand

Boardmember,AspectBiosystems,PromiseRobotics,IntrepidLabs

Becautiousinthemiddle:

BeawareofthedifferentlayersoftheAIstack(foundationmodels,middleware,devtools,andapplications)and

considerwhereyourcompanyfits.Becautiousabout

buildingacompanyinthemiddlelayer,becauseitcan

beunderpressureifthefoundationmodelsevolverapidly.

SarahGuo

FounderandPartner,Conviction

MikeVernal

Partner,Conviction

Focuson“product-aIgofit”.Understandthestrengthsandweaknesses

ofthecurrenttechnologyandbuildyourstartuparoundwhattheAItechnologycandowelltoday,notonsomeidealizedfutureversion.

YoavShoham

ProfessorEmeritusofComputerScience,

StanfordUniversity,andCo-Founder,AI21Labs

A

Nomatterwhere

youarewithAI

adoption,we’re

heretohelp.

BookyourgenerativeAIconsultationtoday.

Signupnow

Getupto$350Kincloudcreditswith

theGoogleforStartupsCloudProgram.

Applynow

ContactourStartupsalesteam.

Getintouch

13

A

01

02

03

What’s

nextinAI

Perspectivesofindustryleaders

14

15

AminVahdat

VP/GMML,Systems,andCloudAI,GoogleCloud

AminisanEngineeringFellowandVicePresidentfortheMachineLearning,Systems,andCloud

AIteam.

BeforejoiningGooglenearly15yearsago,

AminwastheSAICProfessorofComputerScienceandEngineeringatUCSanDiego.HeisanACM

FellowandamemberoftheNationalAcademyofEngineering.

10yearsfromnowourinfrastructurewillbeunrecognizable

Fromsoftwaretohardware,fundamentalshiftsacross

compute,networking,storage,andbeyondareunderway

Today,wetakeourexistingarchitectureforgrantedasitrepresentsthe“conventionalwisdom”forhowsystemsshouldbebuilt.Changesunderwayoverthepastfiveyearsorsomeanthatweareinthe

early-to-middlestagesofanotherrevolutionthatwillrendertheemergingcomputingplatform

unrecognizablebytheendofthisdecade.

Oneofthebiggestdriversofthistransformation

istheshiftawayfromreal-timeinformationaccessanddeliverytotheproactivegenerationofinsightsandinterpretationdrivenbygenerativeAI.

16

ThetremendouscomputationandcommunicationdemandsrequiredbygenerativeAInecessitatecorrespondingshiftsinthedesignandbuildofunderlyinginfrastructure

upanddownthestack,including:

01

Application-specificcomputation

GenerativeAIcomputationconsistsofimmense

volumesofmatrixmultiplicationsandrelated

numericcomputations.Thisspecializationmeans

thatpurpose-builthardwareforaveryspecificsubsetofgeneralpurposecomputationcandeliverafactoroftenormorecomputeefficiencywhenmeasured

inperformancenormalizedtocostorperformanceperWatt.

02

Networking

specialization

We’reseeingaseachangefromstandards

based,commoditynetworkhardware,protocols,

andsoftwaretospecializednetworks,suchasInter

ChipInterconnect(ICI)forTPUsandNVLinkforGPUs,designedfortheveryspecifictaskofsupportingthe

higher-levelcomputeprimitives,suchasall-reduceinhardwarewithlittle-to-nolayering,noOSmanagement,andessentiallydirectmemory-to-memorytransfers

insupportofspecificcomputationprimitives.

03Memorywall

HighBandwidthMemory(HBM),whereRAM

isstackedin3Donthesamepackageasthecomputetodramaticallyreducelatencyandincreasebandwidth,ishittingitsownfundamentallimitations—thememorywall.Growingcomputewithoutcommensurateabilitytofeedthecomputewiththerequireddata,either

fromlocalmemoryorfromacrossthenetwork,

willresultintheexpensivestrandingofbothcomputeandpower—theneedforbreakthroughsincomputeandmemoryarchitecturetomaintaintheneeded

systembalancepoints.

04Computepacking

Tightsynchronizationandmassivepowerrequirementspushinfrastructuretonever-seen-beforelevels

ofcomputedensity.Computationmustbeacrosshomogeneouselements,communicationmustbepre-plannedandcoordinated,andfaulttolerancemustbeefficient.Fromalatencyandpower/

costperspective,packingeverlargeramountsof

computationpowerintosmaller,morepower-denseenvironmentscanhavesignificantbenefits.

05Liquidcooling

Thesustainedrateofintensecomputation

forMLcomputeshiftstheequationsuchthatimprovedperformanceefficiencyofrunningchipsfastereasilyjustifieshigherpowerdensityandliquidcooling.

Liquidcoolinginturnrequiresaredesignofdata

centerbuildingsandcoolinginfrastructure,racks,

andmoreend-to-endtodeliverthehighestlevels

ofefficiency,alongsideoff-gridpowergeneration

technologies(includingwind,solar,hydro,andbatteryarrays)toenablethedeliveryofMLcomputeinvariouslocationsacrosstheplanet.

Out-of-the-boxcapabilitieswithadvancedreasoningcapabilities,likeorchestratingLLMswith

retrieval-augmentedgeneration(RAG)andfunction-calling,will

enablestartupstoaccessmodelsandAIinfrastructurewithout

massivecapitalexpenditureorengineeringresources.

17

AIinfrastructureevolutionwillimpactstartups

indifferentways

Thistremendousgrowthincomputingcapabilityisacceleratedbycontinuousimprovements

inmodelreliabilityanddecreasingcomputationcosts,asaresult:

01

Moreprogresswillbemade

onmodelquality,safety,andlatency

Ifyourstartupisfocusedonveracityandyourgoalistobringhigh-quality,low-orzero-hallucination

offerings,thenyoushouldstillfocusonthisissue.Butifyourgoalistodeliversomeotherservice,

leveragetherisingtideofqualitythatallthemodelsarenowproviding.

02

Computation

costswillplummet

Thecostofcomputationisdroppingquickly.

IfIwereanAIstartup,I’dbetonthefutureof

computationbeingmuchfaster,cheaper,andmorereliable.Let’ssayyouhavethisamazingideaandallyouneedistoreducecomputationcostsbyafactorof10forittobeprofitable.Tome,that’saneasy

bet—evenifyouneedafactorof100reduction.

Aswe’veseenacrosstheindustry,model

builderswillcontinuetooptimizeforcostsavings,

utilizingbare-bonesinfrastructurewithtinymargins.Availabilityofapowerfulanddiversesetofaccelerators(GPUsandTPUs)willcontinuetobekey,aswellashigh-throughputnetworkingcapabilitieshighlightedearlier.

Thevastmajorityofstartups,focusedonbuilding

innovativeanddifferentiatedapplications,willshift

furtherupthestacktomoresoftware-basedservices.Out-of-the-boxcapabilitieswithadvancedreasoningcapabilities,likeorchestratingLLMs(LargeLanguageModels)withretrieval-augmentedgeneration(RAG)andfunction-calling,willbeinhigherdemandastheyallowaccesstomodelsandinfrastructurewithout

massivecapitalexpenditureorengineeringresources.

18

ApoorvAgrawal

Partner,AltimeterCapital

Apoorvleadsinvestmentsinsoftwareand

AIstartupswithnotableinvestmentsinOpenAI,Glean,Parloa,andEverest.

Anengineerbytraining,ApoorvstartedhiscareerasaForwardDeployedEngineeratPalantirandstillcodes.

ComputerautomationandmultimodalAIarethefutureofpersonalcomputing

ThenextinningofAIgrowthwillautomatethemundaneandhumanizetechnology

We’reinaperiodwherewe’vebecomeaddicted

tocomputersandphones.Ibelievewe’lllookbackonitasastrangeblipinhumanhistory.Inahundredyears,

peoplewon’tbegluedtotheirscreens.AIwillliberate

us.Particularly,theriseofmultimodalAI—orAIthat

combinesvoice,vision,andnaturallanguageprocessing—isgoingtomakeinteractingwiththedigitalworld

completelyseamless.

Imagineaworldwhereyoucancontrolyourentire

digitallifeconversationally—speech,visualcues,touch,andwhenallelsefails,typing.That’sthefuturewe’re

building,andit’sgoingtounlockbigopportunitiesforstartupsintheyearsahead.

19

Bettingonautomation,efficiency,andhuman-centeredexperiences

AsanAI-focusedinvestorwhobelievesinafuturedrivenbymultimodalAI,I’veidentifiedthreecorethemesthatguidemydecision-making:

01Automatingthemundane

Customerservice,back-officefunctions,

andanythingthat’sdata-heavyandrules-based

isripeforAIdisruption.I’minterestedinmaking

AIinvestmentsinareaswherehumansaredoing

workthatdoesnotfulfillthem,doesnotbringthemjoy,andisnotcreative.AIexcelsatautomating

unfulfilling,data-richtasks,freeinguphumansformoremeaningfulwork.

02Augmentinghumancapabilities

AIisaboutmakingussmarterandmoreefficient.

Thinkoftoolsthatcansynthesizevastamounts

ofinformationanddeliveractionableinsights

tounlocktangibleproductivitygains.I’minterestedinstartupsdevelopingAIsolutionsthathelpimprovewhathumanscando.

03Humanizingtechnology

IthinkvoiceAIinparticularoffersamorenaturaland

intuitivewaytointeractwithtechnology.IhavefocusedonvoiceAIinfrastructureprovidersbecauseIbelievethis

Similartothesethemes,I’malsointerestedinagentic

workflows,whereAIagentshandleentiretasksor

processesforus.It’snosurprisetomethatsome

ofthesmartestmindsarebuildingtoolstofreeus

fromclickingbuttonsandbeinghunchedoverascreen.

I’minterestedinmakingAI

investmentsinareaswherehumansaredoingworkthatdoesnotfulfillthem,doesnotbringthemjoy,

andisnotcreative.AIexcelsat

automatingunfulfilling,data-richtasks,freeinguphumansformoremeaningfulwork.

areaisexploding.Startupsthatcancreatetrulyhuman-

centeredAIexperienceswillhaveabigadvantageinthemarket.Andanotherinterestingareatoexploreishow

wecanuseAItobetterunderstandandconnectwitheachother,improvingrelationshipsbeyondproductivitygains.

20

Shiftingfocustotheapplicationlayer

Asthecostofinfrastructureandmodelsplummets,theopportunityisshiftingtowardstheapplicationlayer.Thinkofitlikethis:theAIstackiscurrently

aninvertedtriangle,withmostofthevalue

concentratedinsemiconductorsandinfrastructure.

ButaswemoveintothenextinningsofAIgrowth,thattrianglewillflip.Theapplicationlayerwillbecomewhereinnovationandvaluecreationhappen.

Forstartups,thismeansfocusingonbuilding

AI-poweredproductsandservicesthatsolvereal-worldproblems.Don’tgetboggeddowninthe

complexworldoffoundationalmodels.Instead,

leverageexistinginfrastructureandfocusoncreatinginnovativeapplicationsthatdelivertangiblevalue

tousers.Andbuildfordurability,soyou’renotjustsurvivingbutwinningwiththenextgenerations

ofmodelsandsupportingtechnology.

Ithinkthisiswheretherealopportunityliesandseetwobigtrendsemerging:

01Horizontalapplications

AI-poweredtoolsthatimproveproductivityacrossalljobfunctions.

02Verticalapplications

SpecializedAIproductsbuilttocatertospecificroleslikeengineersorcustomerservicerepresentatives.

OnekeydebateiswhetherhorizontalAIwillbecomesogoodthatitreplacestheneedforverticalsolutions.Anotherquestionstartupsneedtoconsideris,shouldyoupursueper-seat,usage-based,orvalue-based

pricingforyourproduct?There’snoeasyanswer,butIadvisestartupstoaligntheirpricingwith

thevaluedelivered.

Formyfinalthoughts,I’llleaveyouwithwhatItellfounderswhoaskmeforadviceonusingAIeffectively:

Data

There’snoAIstrategywithoutadatastrategy.

UnderstandwhatdatayouhaveandhowyoucanuseittotraineffectiveAImodels.

Integration

ConsiderhowyoucanintegrateyourAIsolutionwithotherplatformsanddatasourcestocreate

aseamlessuserexperience.

Workflow

Finally,thinkaboutthetasksthatpeopledon’twanttodo—likebookingflights.CanAIautomatethosetasksormakethemmoreintuitive?

21

FounderandCEO,Glean

ArvindJain

ArvindistheFounderandCEOofGlean,theAI-poweredworkassistantthatbringspeopletheanswerstheyneedtobemoreproductiveandhappieratwork.

PriortoGlean,Arvindco-foundedandledR&DatRubrik,apubliclytradedleaderinthedatasecurityspaceandalsospentoveradecadeatGoogleasadistinguishedengineer,whereheledteamsinGoogle’sSearch,Maps,

andYouTubeproducts.

PrioritizetoplinegrowthwithAI,ROIcanwait

AIisaboutbuildingproductsandprovidingexperiencesthatwerenotpossiblebefore

TheconversationaroundAIagentshasbecome

unrealistic.Atsomepointlastyear,whatstarted

with‘AIcananswerthisquestion’quicklybecame‘a(chǎn)gentsaregoingtodoourworkforussowecangotothebeach,’withlittleprooforthoughtonhowwegetthere.

AlmosteveryFounderorCEOIspeaktoknowsthat

weareinAI’searlystagesandthatitwillfundamentallychangetheirbusinessovertheyears.Ialsobelieve

thathumanswillremainincontrol,masteringthis

technologyfortheforeseeablefuture.Individuals

willbecomesignificantlymoreproductive,perhaps

evenachievingtentimesmorethantheycouldbefore.It’scrucialtounde