Navigating the shift - from diffusion to destination
This year's Software Leadership Gathering brought together three vantage points that rarely meet in one room: the labs, the application and software vendors, and the technology investors - to discuss the pace of AI diffusion, the destination, and the next best move for a leader to make today.
Hearing them in conversation proved to be an effective way to filter signal from noise - a way of triangulating an informed view on the state of AI.
The 10 takeaways that follow are shaped by what Matthew Brockman, Chief Investment Officer, heard in those conversations.
|
|
|
Welcome to Hg’s monthly update, designed to keep you updated with news from Hg and our
network of portfolio companies. Follow us on LinkedIn.
|
|
|
|
|
John Cranmer is joined by Gil Elbaz, Co-Founder and Chief AI Officer at Onyx Security. Gil, argues that the AI attack surface has fundamentally changed. The old boundary between what is yours and what is not has collapsed, and every agent, MCP and tool connection is now part of the perimeter.
|
|
|
|
|
In a new essay, our Partners Benedikt Joeris, Jonathan Wulkan, and Joris Van Gool set out how our investment strategy is sharpening to capture this agentic opportunity. We think the next five years hold more opportunity to create value in technology than the last ten.
|
|
|
|
|
Our Head of Value Creation has worked through dozens of AI transformations across our portfolio. His argument is that the race ahead is long and that a head start matters less than the transformation capability to keep accelerating. Technical talent is essential - but it is only a fraction of what it takes.
|
|
|
|
|
Just over a month ago, we brought together 200 engineers from 40 product and engineering teams in London, Paris, and New York and gave them 48 hours to build agentic AI products from scratch.
|
|
|
|
|
Hg's Co-CEO speaks to L'AGEFI about the thinking behind our AI investment, and why a portfolio of software businesses in the same space works like a large-scale AI lab. We learn fast, spread what works, and drop what doesn't.
|
|
|
LISTENING RECOMMENDATIONS
|
Dive into some of the podcasts that we are listening to
|
|
|
Lenny’s Podcast:
A rational conversation on where AI is actually going
Tech analyst and former a16z partner Benedict Evans on why this is a ‘1997’ moment for AI, where value actually accrues in the stack, and why the question about your job isn’t ‘what percent can AI do?’ but ‘is this a task or a job?’
|
|
|
|
|
|
It was great to bring together founders and CEOs from across the Spanish software ecosystem in Barcelona. This year’s theme, The AI Transformation Playbook, looked to demystify AI into what’s actually working today beyond the headline hype. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
For the second year running, we marked Pride Month with an internal panel on the LGBTQ+ perspective in private equity, and what it means to build a more inclusive firm and industry. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
This month we brought together 40+ sustainability leaders from across the Hg portfolio for our annual Sustainability Forum in London, a day exploring how technology and AI are reshaping sustainability: from value creation to climate action, to staying the course through shifting headwinds. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
Our average sustainability score climbed to 8.4/10 this year. Through the Hg Foundation we've now committed $45 million to support people from underrepresented backgrounds into technology careers. And women make up 51% of our firm. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
The best AI products don't replace the system of record. They wrap around it. Empyrean Solutions' team built a great example of that at the hg catalyst hackathon. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
Clean+ is a fully cloud-hosted metadata cleaning solution that enforces one policy across every Outlook environment. Built on a deterministic engine trusted by 42% of the market, it removes metadata risk at the source. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
"Completing our first Double Materiality Assessment, investing in expertise to build our sustainability strategy, introducing 2030 targets and strengthening our governance. This award reflects the commitment of everyone at Azets who made it happen." Read more
|
|
|
|
|
IVA Studio is a fully agentic system able to execute any Source-to-Pay process from day one and automate any procurement workflow. It understands your data, follows your rules, and gets work done. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
Lucanet launches 'Intelligence inside', where experts share insights into how intelligence is being built for the office of the CFO. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
"The innovations we unveiled at Benevity Live! are built to change that equation. When we can take more of the operational burden off their plates, we are not just saving our clients time; we are giving them back the capacity to scale change in their communities." Read more
|
|
|
|
|
Verity operates directly inside assurance engagements - not alongside them. It understands engagement context, firm methodology and professional standards, then orchestrates a suite of workflow-native AI agents across the full engagement lifecycle.
Read more
|
|
|
|
|
Reporting Intelligence connects ERP data directly to Excel with an always-on Intelligence Layer that monitors data, surfaces what has changed, and guides teams on what to do next - no IT project, no data engineer, no migration required. From ERP connection to insights in under an hour. Read more
|
|
|
|
