Instead of selling software to traditional industries, a more defensible approach is to build vertically integrated companies. This involves acquiring or starting a business in a non-sexy industry (e.g., a law firm, hospital) and rebuilding its entire operational stack with AI at its core, something a pure software vendor cannot do.

Thrive's 'Holdings' strategy is built on the belief that AI shifts disruption from 'outside-in' (startups) to 'inside-out' (incumbents). The key assets for AI transformation are proprietary data and internal experts who can fine-tune models, giving established companies a new, defensible advantage.

The most successful organizations will view AI not as a tool for cost-cutting (doing the same with less) but as an expansionary technology. This mindset focuses on using AI to create new products, enter new markets, and dramatically increase scope, rather than just incremental efficiency gains.

The true financial windfall from AI won't come from hyped, "AI-native" companies like OpenAI. Instead, established giants like Meta and Amazon will generate massive shareholder value by applying AI to optimize their existing, scaled operations in areas like ad targeting, logistics, and robotics.

The dominant long-term strategy isn't using AI to do the same work with fewer people (Efficiency AI). Winning companies will leverage AI to create new products, services, and capabilities, massively expanding their output and market presence (Opportunity AI).

Focusing AI efforts on efficiency and cost reduction offers limited, short-term benefits. The truly transformative approach is to invest in AI to create new revenue streams, enhance product offerings, and grow the business exponentially.

While models like ChatGPT bring AI into the mainstream, true business transformation doesn't come from relying on one powerful tool. The real competitive advantage is in building an integrated ecosystem that embeds various AI capabilities across all business functions, creating a holistic and defensible strategy.

AI enables companies to sell outcomes rather than just product usage. To do this profitably, they need greater control over the entire delivery process. This is driving a trend of vertical integration, where companies expand into adjacent parts of the value chain to own the end-to-end experience and capture more value.

Mature enterprises are moving beyond using AI for operational efficiency. They are now leveraging their unique, proprietary data to train custom models. This allows them to build differentiated services and products that competitors cannot replicate, creating new top-line revenue opportunities rather than just improving bottom-line savings.