Hungryroot’s Post

3 takeaways from this week’s Goldman Sachs and last week’s Citi conferences: The AI “pyramid” is inverting. You can think of value creation in AI as shaped like a pyramid. Most of the value has gone into the bottom, infrastructure layer (chips, data centers) and middle, model layer (LLMs). Much less has gone to the top, application layer. On the “AI Powered Platforms” panel at the Citi conference, Ming S. Zhao Sirisha Kadamalakalva and I spoke about how this pyramid is likely to invert in the near future (as it did with the internet and cloud). Many people — credit image to Altimeter and Apoorv A. — now believe the most exciting opportunities of the next several years will be in the application layer with companies such as Harvey, Runway, and Hungryroot. Especially in the application layer, creating value from AI requires a systemic approach that combines model design with analytics, digital experience, operations, and brand. For example, at Hungryroot, the way our models are designed impacts the inventory we sell, and vice versa. Similarly, the way our UX is designed impacts the data we collect that feeds our models. Value is derived by integrating these various functions to optimize customer satisfaction and minimize operational costs and risk. On “The Role of AI in Transforming the Consumer Experience” panel at the Goldman Sachs conference, Wes Schroll and I spoke about how much of the focus to date in AI applications has been on cost cutting and enterprise solutions (e.g. streamlining customer service or back-office tasks). This is starting to change, and much of the future opportunity will be in consumer value creation (e.g. helping people eat healthier, be more creative, etc.). AI is moving so quickly that it can feel dizzying, and yet at the same time energizing. What changes are you observing or most excited about? Let’s discuss! Thank you Elinor L. Hoover and the Citi team, and Kay Lee and the GS team for including us.