William Griffith

"Rent the intelligence. Own the context." @btaylor, co-founder and CEO of @SierraPlatform, on what makes an AI company built to last: deep expertise in the business process, the customer, and the domain. Sierra already resolves for more than 40% of the Fortune 50. New product Horizon puts the idea into action: an agent that calls a specialist's office back as many times as it takes to get a stuck referral scheduled. Watch more ICONIQ Frontier conversations: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL… Key Moments: 00:00 Sierra now resolves for 40%+ of the Fortune 50 01:06 From "AI projects fail" to "what's my token bill" 03:22 Why Bret thinks every department needs its own AI vendor 04:29 An agent's real unit is a process, not a person 07:58 Why Sierra runs roughly 80% open-weight models 14:15 Three hard transitions for legacy software companies 19:46 Getting enterprise clients comfortable with outcomes pricing 23:20 Horizon, and the referral nobody could get scheduled 27:21 Rent the intelligence, own the context Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

As @tryramp enters its next chapter, @eglyman's conversation at ICONIQ Frontier offers a look at how the company is approaching what's ahead. From managing AI spend to deploying agents that write the majority of Ramp's code, Eric shared how the team is rethinking financial operations from the ground up. He also spoke about the qualities he values most in people: intellectual curiosity, a steep learning curve, and the potential to grow beyond where they are today. Congratulations to Eric, @karimatiyeh, and the Ramp team on this milestone. Key Moments: 02:10 What Ramp sees in AI spend 08:12 Choosing the right model 10:50 AI writing ~80% of Ramp’s code 13:48 Measuring AI against business outcomes 16:02 When agents start spending money Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

You can prompt a lot of things. Taste isn’t one of them. On October 8, @ConductAI CTO Henry Thompson and Sof Rami, a technical member of @AnthropicAI, will sit down for the first Conduct After Hours in New York to talk about the judgment behind building software with AI. We'll be moderating the conversation, followed by drinks with engineers, founders, and operators across the city. Apply to attend: luma.com/conduct-jlhl Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The September edition of ICONIQ Pulse is live, featuring @ezCater joining @Uber, @enveda Series E, @WeAreLegora $200M ARR, State of Scaling, Frontier sessions, and more. Subscribe and share: linkedin.com/pulse/ezcater-j… Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The fundamentals of building a great software company still matter. It's the pace and discipline of some of the strongest companies that's setting a new standard. The Great Sorting is well underway. Where companies land could depend on how quickly they adapt. Read the full report: bit.ly/4hcZT0P Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The hardest problems in AI may be the ones humans barely think about. Folding laundry. Pouring coffee. Turning a sock inside out. At ICONIQ Frontier, @physical_int co-founder @svlevine joined ICONIQ’s @rbernshteyn to explain why these seemingly simple tasks remain extraordinarily difficult for machines, and why general-purpose models could change that. Physical Intelligence is working toward a shared intelligence layer that can learn across robots, tasks, and environments rather than engineering each system from scratch. A few moments from the conversation: 04:22 Why the “easy” things humans do are so hard for AI 06:47 How generality changes the robotics problem 10:38 How training data evolves as robots become more capable 15:01 The intelligence layer as a kind of operating system for robots 20:23 Why robotics may not have a single “ChatGPT moment” Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

How long can a conviction about AI stay true when the technology keeps changing underneath it? “Every three, four months you get a curveball,” @nikesharora told the ICONIQ Community at Frontier. In conversation with Divesh Makan, the @PaloAltoNtwks chairman and CEO shared how his thinking has evolved as agents, open-weight models, and new approaches to inference have emerged, and why that pace of change should push founders to ask a harder question than where to add AI. For some companies, the opportunity may be to rebuild the product around what AI now makes possible. Nikesh also discussed why startups can still have an edge in new categories and how AI is changing cybersecurity by compressing the time it takes to find and exploit vulnerabilities. A thoughtful opening to ICONIQ Frontier on what remains unsettled, and what that means for the people building through it. Key moments: 03:21 Why AI assumptions can change every few months 10:07 Rebuilding products from first principles 16:42 Why startups can win new categories 19:28 How AI is changing cybersecurity 27:21 What Nikesh looks for in founders and new ideas Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The Great Sorting is already visible in public markets. The public software index fell 3% over the last 12 months, while high-growth companies saw NTM revenue multiples rebound from roughly 7x to 9.2x in two quarters. The market is increasingly distinguishing between different software growth profiles. See the full breakdown: bit.ly/4hcZT0P Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

Legora has crossed $200M ARR. In our 2026 State of Scaling report, we highlighted the company’s climb from $1M to $100M ARR in just 18 months. The next $100M came in less than six. Since we partnered with @MaxJunestrand, @siggelabor, and the team a year and a half ago in their Series B, @WeAreLegora has grown to 130,000 monthly users across 2,100 firms and legal teams in 80+ countries, with the US now its largest market by revenue. It’s been a privilege to watch this team build with such speed and rigor. Congratulations to everyone at Legora on an extraordinary milestone. Legora is hiring: legora.com/careers Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

Anthropic, Legora, Sierra, ElevenLabs, OpenAI, and Glean are reaching $100M ARR in one to three years, a milestone that used to take software companies five or more. The growth curve for AI-native companies looks fundamentally different. More on what sets the outliers apart: bit.ly/4hcZT0P Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The Great Sorting has begun. A new class of software companies identified from our dataset, which we call Pacesetters, is compressing years of growth into a fraction of the time. They’re spending more, growing faster, and generating more for it. Earlier this year, we explored this shift in “A Coming Age of Reason.” Our latest report puts the data behind that thesis. Download the 2026 State of Scaling: our annual Topline Growth and Operational Efficiency Report: bit.ly/4hcZT0P Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

“Losing like a scientist” is one of @outtake_ai's values, and the most personal one for founder @adylon7. Each Sunday, he reviews every meeting from his week and asks what he could have done better. He pairs that habit with the optimism early-stage companies typically require. One makes the other possible. Learn more about Alex and his journey to found Outtake: youtu.be/9pux96sAKwA Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

"Every engineer you talk to wants to prove those people wrong." @neelkunjur, co-founder of @K2SpaceCo, on why some of the best engineers seek out problems others call impossible, and how a founding group of engineers created a cycle of talent that keeps compounding. Learn more about @KaranKunjur and Neel's journey building K2 Space: youtu.be/9VVMy7QmHBY Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

Approximately 50 trillion dollars in US assets. Tens of millions of people receive financial advice every year. And some of the best AI talent tends to overlook it. @MarkSwan_ saw a misunderstood industry, and @neviswealth was born. Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

Congratulations to @PeterRahal and the @medicibrands team on their Series B. At the heart of Medici is a simple idea: people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and better nutrition. @david_protein has already shown how powerfully that can resonate, growing from a single product into a brand sold in more than 35,000 retail locations in just two years. We’re honored to support Peter and the team as they continue rethinking familiar foods around better nutrition, without compromising on taste or experience. prnewswire.com/news-releases… Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

"We need to own those things." Neel Kunjur, co-founder of @K2SpaceCo, on the lesson legacy satellite makers learned the hard way: outsource your components and you eventually outsource your schedule and cost. K2 builds its own. Learn more about @KaranKunjur and @neelkunjur's journey building K2 Space: youtu.be/9VVMy7QmHBY Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

The August edition of ICONIQ Pulse is live, featuring @RilletHQ Series C, @Whatnot Series G, @altruist joins Vanguard, New Hiring Filter series, and more. Subscribe and share: bit.ly/48MZIXp Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

Is AI freezing headcount? Not for hypergrowth companies (companies growing revenue 100%+ YOY). Hypergrowth companies generally reported increased headcount by an average of 133% in the first two quarters of 2026, up from 119% in 2025. Everyone else is hiring too, just far more cautiously. So while AI may be changing how teams work, our data suggests it is not replacing the need for people to fuel growth. More on where that hiring is happening, and how AI is reshaping the calculus, in our upcoming report. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox: iconiq.com/growth/signup Data as of 08/04/2026 Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

A year after partnering with @RilletHQ on their Series B, we're honored to deepen our partnership with @nicckopp and the team by leading their Series C. Over the past 12 months, Rillet has grown to serve more than 600 companies across 60 countries, is winning head-to-head evaluations against legacy incumbents, expanded Aura AI into a platform of purpose-built agents across the accounting cycle, and built a partner ecosystem spanning EY, KPMG, and half of the top 30 U.S. accounting firms. The clearest sign of progress to us comes from customers closing their books in hours and pushing toward a zero-day close. Nic and the team are bringing reliable, real-time financials within reach for modern finance teams, and we're honored to be by their side for the journey. Read more about our partnership: iconiq.com/growth/insights/i… Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0

"Go smaller to go cheaper, faster." That was the message from a senior government official until @neelkunjur and @KaranKunjur, co-founders of @K2SpaceCo, asked which part he actually cared about. The answer was that one is impossible without the other. K2 treated it instead as an engineering problem, one the right group of engineers could solve. Disclaimer: bit.ly/3H4dQj0