Most investment firms are using AI. Almost none are running on it.
Using AI means someone at the firm has ChatGPT open in a tab. It summarizes transcripts, drafts emails, brainstorms names for things. Useful. But the firm still runs on the same spreadsheets, the same manual tracking, the same "let me dig through my notes" before every IC meeting.
Running on AI is different. Deals get logged because the system logs them. Briefs get drafted because the agent drafts them. Portfolio data gets collected because collection is automated. The team focuses on judgment calls, not data entry.
That gap is what this blog is about.
We write across four areas. What it means to be AI-native as a fund, and why most firms experimenting with AI tools aren't actually moving toward it. Operational playbooks (IC briefs, deal flow systems, LP reporting) that are useful whether or not you ever use Ventos. Honest takes on where AI falls short for funds, what tools can't do yet, and how to evaluate any vendor. And how to actually use the data you already have, not just collect it.
Our first post covers the AI-adjacent trap: why so many firms think they're transforming when they're really just adding another tab to the browser. Out next week.
This blog is for operators at VC and PE firms. No hype, no product pitches dressed as content.