0
Applied AI·October 5, 2026·1 min read

The best AI opportunities for investors may not look like AI companies

Share

Value is drifting from pure-play AI apps to incumbents that quietly absorb models into existing workflows and distribution. If you’re building in a non-AI vertical, you can still capture AI upside by owning the workflow and treating models as interchangeable parts.

Applied AI

Survey: only 11% of ~400 businesses could forecast AI spending; a study finds lower-priced models cost more than higher-priced models on 32% of 6,800+ tasks

If only 11% of businesses can forecast AI spend and cheaper models cost more on a third of tasks, then ‘model choice’ is now a FinOps problem, not just a quality decision. This week, ask your teams for a simple report: per use case, which model are we using, what’s the effective cost per task, and how volatile is that bill month to month.