TechCrunch Disrupt’s Great AI Expectation

The forecast of venture capitalists for the next year was made without any doubts at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Artificial intelligence was the leading topic throughout the discourse of speakers and panelists. This was not a mere shift in trend but rather a nearly universal attention. Investors kept mentioning AI as the domain that will mostly entice capital and cause 2026's innovation.

The representatives of such top venture capital firms as Index Ventures, Greylock, and Felicis Ventures, among others, disclosed their thoughts on AI and what founders need to overcome the competition. All three investors pointed out that, despite the high popularity of AI, not every proposal would receive backing. The requirements are strong product market fit, powerful technology that can be protected, and real-world applications that are distinctly different from existing ones in terms of models being copied.

 

Main Takeaways from the Investors

Tenacity and Knowledge are Key

According to Nina Achadjian of Index, investors are “enormous” amounts of time not only on the idea but also on the founders’ tenacity and knowledge. The reason for that is that investors recognize the quickness of market changes and the long duration of start-ups’ need for solid fundamentals to get through the unstable and changing period of growth.

Gaining Recognition in a Highly Competed Arena

Peter Deng, an investor, who has been in the AI area for a long time, thus including his stint at OpenAI, stressed the point of differentiation. The competition is fierce as a lot of companies offer similar services and products, so having a unique data strategy or gaining an advantage through various means can bring an enterprise into the limelight. In this respect, Deng mentioned that he and other investors are specially on the lookout for the companies that have the third way of doing things and that know their capabilities or insights that cannot be easily duplicated.

Investors who wish to be convinced by true problem solvers will have to give them money.

Jerry Chen from Greylock told us that the investors now prefer the founders who are solving real business problems over the ones simply using AI as a buzzword. A product must provide measurable value and become seamlessly integrated into the existing workflows for it to be considered as a part of a larger organization’s toolkit.

What are the Most Exciting AI Segments

The investors spotted a couple of AI segments that are particularly attractive:

• AI Chat and Communication Tools: Applications that either improve the dialogues or take over the user's side in the conversation.
• AI Coding and Developer Tools: This category encompasses AI-based programs that help create or debug code among others.
• AI for Customer Services and Enterprise Workflows: Systems designed to make business processes more efficient and responsive.

Think of these segments not merely as areas of technical innovation but as the main source of commercial potential. Products like AI for business that directly boost productivity or get rid of the long-standing problems get higher valuations etc.

The Investment Climate for Startups

When talking about today's climate among investors, one cannot help but say that they are still enthusiastic about AI, but at the same time, they also gave the founders a warning about the increasing standards. That is to say, having an AI-based product is not enough anymore for winning the investors over. Companies must reinforce their visions of growth with strong arguments and also tell how they would deter the competition from the bigger model creators and platform providers.

Investors keep one eye on the patient side, and the other on the discerning one. Several of them are tuning their efforts to the point in time where the hype is over and the long-term sustainability and impact will be the only thing left. Hence the need for backing the startups with not only a clear roadmap but also the proof that their technology can scale and retain customers over time.

What This Means for 2026

The conclusion drawn from these talks is very clear: AI is not simply a fashionable term that investors keep. It has already developed into that main theme throughout the areas of early-stage and growth investing. Founders who grasp the intricacies of AI technology, continue to build.