Brilliant framework, Miqdad. Your strategic lens nails the “where to play”. But I think there's a deeper structural reality that even the winners are missing.
We're not watching individual companies succeed or fail - we're watching a systematic extraction pyramid. Every layer (FMs → AI-Native → AI Bolt-Ons) sells "democratization" up-stack while commoditizing everything below it.
Commoditizing = systematically making the layer below you interchangeable, undifferentiated, and price-competitive.
Even the AI-native platforms - Perplexity, Harvey, Cursor - aren't sovereign. They're one FM pricing change away from margin compression, and one capability update/integration/context injection, away from obsolescence.
Your moats principle is critical. Alongside data, behavioral, and workflow moats, I’d add a fourth: OKR embedding. The ability to define and anchor measurable outcomes - and show up in every renewal conversation becomes a strategic lock-in. More a concern for growth/CS teams, but definitely something product can lean in on.
Survival won't just come from proprietary datasets. It'll come from proprietary ways of generating compound intelligence - systems where every user interaction hardens an irreplaceable, prompt-proof moat.
Brilliant framework, Miqdad. Your strategic lens nails the “where to play”. But I think there's a deeper structural reality that even the winners are missing.
We're not watching individual companies succeed or fail - we're watching a systematic extraction pyramid. Every layer (FMs → AI-Native → AI Bolt-Ons) sells "democratization" up-stack while commoditizing everything below it.
Commoditizing = systematically making the layer below you interchangeable, undifferentiated, and price-competitive.
Even the AI-native platforms - Perplexity, Harvey, Cursor - aren't sovereign. They're one FM pricing change away from margin compression, and one capability update/integration/context injection, away from obsolescence.
Your moats principle is critical. Alongside data, behavioral, and workflow moats, I’d add a fourth: OKR embedding. The ability to define and anchor measurable outcomes - and show up in every renewal conversation becomes a strategic lock-in. More a concern for growth/CS teams, but definitely something product can lean in on.
Survival won't just come from proprietary datasets. It'll come from proprietary ways of generating compound intelligence - systems where every user interaction hardens an irreplaceable, prompt-proof moat.
Really comprehensive ! Beautifully drilled down. I know I am going to read this multiple times. Thanks Miqdad !