Question 1

How do venture firms use AI in their own operations?

Accepted Answer

_AI in sourcing, diligence, portfolio construction, and founder support._

> AI — it's who controls the data and who builds products that businesses and people actually use.

— [Stargate: The $500 Billion Message To China — The Future Of AI Regulation](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2025/01/22/stargate-the-500b-message-to-china---the-future-of-ai-regulation/) · _Forbes_

> Private equity was part of nearly every conversation. Firms are shopping aggressively again, fueled by a familiar thesis: acquire platforms, deploy AI across the portfolio and capture efficiency gains at scale.

— [AI For Private Equity — The Future Of B2B Distribution](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2025/07/15/ai-for-private-equity---the-future-of-b2b-distribution/) · _Forbes_

Question 2

What does 'AI as an operating model' mean?

Accepted Answer

_Why the winners redesign work around AI rather than just adopting tools._

> AI — it's who controls the data and who builds products that businesses and people actually use.

— [Stargate: The $500 Billion Message To China — The Future Of AI Regulation](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2025/01/22/stargate-the-500b-message-to-china---the-future-of-ai-regulation/) · _Forbes_

> But workflows are brittle. One new prompt, one model update, and the whole chain quietly breaks. I watch this every time I get students [coding agents in my Cornell workshops](https://ecornell.cornell.edu/courses/artificial-intelligence/building-enterprise-ready-ai-agents-from-prototypes-to-production/). It is easy to start and just as easy to break.

— [The Missing Moat In AI: Your Eval Data](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2026/05/26/the-missing-moat-in-ai-your-eval-data/) · _Forbes_

Question 3

Why are AI workflows the real moat?

Accepted Answer

_How redesigning work around AI beats model upgrades._

> SaaS can build the new AI-driven workflows on top of its user data and customer surfaces. But workflows are brittle. One new prompt, one model update, and the whole chain quietly breaks. I watch this every time I get students [coding agents in my Cornell workshops](https://ecornell.cornell.edu/courses/artificial-intelligence/building-enterprise-ready-ai-agents-from-prototypes-to-production/).

— [The Missing Moat In AI: Your Eval Data](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2026/05/26/the-missing-moat-in-ai-your-eval-data/) · _Forbes_

> The winners were Cursor, an integrated coding environments, and engineering teams that adapted Cursor quickly. Going forward, AI will change all workflows: CRM interfaces, shop websites, logistics, finance, image creation and more. In short: AI will change how work is done.What AI won't change is our core business goals. We still need operations, logistics, and finance.

— [Good News For Consultants. Google CEO: No Company Is Immune To AI](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2025/11/18/good-news-for-consultants-google-ceo-no-company-is-immune-to-ai/) · _Forbes_

Question 4

Why are radically lean teams the future?

Accepted Answer

_How AI compresses the team size needed to ship._

> I mean, UiPath is a huge company, Automation Anywhere. There are many other players, but it has some kind of limit. So is it now because we have AI, artificial intelligence, can we now do really smart tasks? Is that the idea of agents?

— [AI Agents: The Future of Work?](https://content.rss.com/episodes/204999/1798482/lutzandjasper/2024_12_12_13_17_56_3a2b23d3-5df8-4522-bae2-c510e90c159a.mp3) · _Podcast - THE EDGE_

> So same as the stock market, people were preempting kind of future rounds and future value increase without knowing if that would actually happen. So the backlash that comes here is that we see some realism, oh, wow, it takes longer. It's a research project.

— [AI Gold Rush: Is the Market Overheating?](https://content.rss.com/episodes/204999/1602273/lutzandjasper/2024_08_07_20_53_32_c47d1207-608b-49c2-8e3c-ccd123387e33.mp3) · _Podcast - THE EDGE_

Q&A, AI Workflows

How do venture firms use AI in their own operations?

What does 'AI as an operating model' mean?

Why are AI workflows the real moat?

Why are radically lean teams the future?