Strategic Control: Owning the AI Enterprise Stack
PLUS: Former Head of Product Design at Revolut Building Something New
Venture Radar
Strategic Control: Owning the AI Enterprise Stack
OpenAI’s decision to take an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings signals a pivotal shift in how AI platforms plan to dominate the enterprise market. Historically, enterprise AI success required alignment with major system integrators and software vendors, but in a world where AI rapidly redefines workflows, the real leverage lies in owning the transformation layer itself.
By embedding directly into the infrastructure decisions of Fortune 100 firms, OpenAI is collapsing the distance between AI innovation and enterprise deployment. The partnership grants OpenAI privileged access to implementation roadmaps, procurement priorities, and data environments where mission-critical AI tools are adopted at scale. This isn’t just distribution, it is deep structural influence over how the next generation of enterprise technology standards get set.
A strategic equity position turns collaboration into control. Rather than waiting for enterprises to gradually modernize around its products, OpenAI is accelerating the cycle: AI-first workflows → new performance baselines → higher switching costs → market dominance. The more companies integrate policy automation, reasoning engines, and secure workplace copilots, the harder it becomes to unwind OpenAI from the stack.
This reflects a broader macro trend: AI giants are no longer selling tools; they are embedding themselves as the operating layer of the modern corporation. Ownership stakes in implementation partners convert influence into infrastructure. Whoever dictates enterprise AI transformation will shape productivity curves, cost structures, and competitive dynamics across entire industries.
There are risks. Heavy entanglement increases exposure to regulatory scrutiny and operational accountability. If AI systems fail to deliver ROI at scale, backlash could slow enterprise adoption and weaken the value proposition.
But the direction of travel is unmistakable. The enterprise battlefield is no longer just about model performance, it is about control of distribution, integration workflows, and AI-driven standards. OpenAI’s move with Thrive reflects a deliberate strategy: don’t just power the enterprise future, own the rails it runs on.
Geeks of the Week
Startup Name: Maior
Geography: US
One-liner: AI-powered platform that partners with trusted financial institutions to provide small businesses with fast access to working capital.
Founder(s) Background: Director (AI Labs) at AmEx, VP of Data Science at AmEx.
Thoughts:
Maior AI is positioning itself at a critical inflection point: as traditional lenders continue to under-service SMBs, the platform that enables data-driven, AI-powered underwriting and working-capital access becomes the backbone of equitable small-business finance. Maior challenges the outdated assumption that small-business credit decisions must rely on paperwork, rigid credit-score formulas, or lengthy manual processes.
Startup Name: Komo
Geography: US
One-liner: A research and product lab for Search.
Founder(s) Background: Product Manager (Search) at Google
Thoughts:
Komo AI is positioning itself at a pivotal moment: as demand for fast, accurate information and research grows, the platform offering seamless, AI-powered search and research workflows becomes a core component of professional productivity. Gone are the days when knowledge work was limited to manual searches across fragmented tools, Komo challenges that assumption by enabling teams (or individuals) to ask complex questions, explore topics, and drill down into data with an AI assistant that searches, summarizes, and surfaces insights with verified sources.
Startup Name: Colleqtive AI
Geography: US
One-liner: AI Employees OS for hyperscalers
Founder(s) Background: Staff Research Scientist (Graph Learning) at Meta.
Thoughts:
Colleqtive AI is positioning itself at a pivotal moment: as organizations shift from single-purpose AI tools toward ecosystems of specialized autonomous agents, the real breakthrough becomes how those agents collaborate. The company challenges the traditional assumption that work must flow through individual humans clicking through software. Instead, Colleqtive envisions a future where agents coordinate with other agents, delegate tasks, navigate systems of record, and surface decisions only when human judgment or oversight is required.
Founder(s) building in stealth
Notable Mergers and Acquisitions
SoftBank completes acquisition of Ampere Computing
SoftBank Group announced that it completed the acquisition of all equity in Ampere Computing Holdings LLC, a Santa Clara–based semiconductor design company focused on high-performance, energy-efficient AI compute on ARM. Ampere becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank, and will be consolidated into SoftBank’s financials going forward.
Patient Square Capital takes Premier, Inc. private for US$2.6 billion
Patient Square Capital completed its previously announced acquisition of Premier, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed, technology-driven healthcare improvement and data company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Broadsign acquires Place Exchange, consolidating OOH adtech
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) adtech provider Broadsign announced on 25 November 2025 that it is acquiring Place Exchange, a leading independent OOH supply-side platform, with a minority investment from Crestline Investors.
Omnicom completes ~US$9B all-stock merger with Interpublic
On 26 November 2025, Omnicom completed its all-stock acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), creating the largest advertising agency holding company by revenue, with more than US$25 billion in annual revenue.
This edition is brought to you in partnership with Stella Capital.