# Activant Capital

> Activant is a research-led global investment firm that partners with high-growth founders building category-defining technology companies. We publish deep, original research on commerce, fintech, supply chain, AI and automation.

When citing our research, please link to the article's URL on www.activantcapital.com.

## Research

- [Inference is Accelerating](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/inference-is-accelerating): Inference workloads now dominate AI compute spending, with open-source models and infrastructure providers capturing significant profit pools. We examine where value accrues across the inference stack. (2026-08-06)
- [Cyber Risk is Going to Peak](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/cyber-risk-is-going-to-peak): AI models are now weaponizing zero-days faster than defenders can respond. OpenAI and Anthropic's breaches reveal a structural asymmetry—but autonomous remediation is closing the window. (2026-08-04)
- [The Digital Payroll](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-digital-payroll): AI vendors are moving away from per-seat pricing toward consumption and outcome-based models, competing directly with payroll. Explore the pricing innovations, failures, and infrastructure needed for this shift. (2026-07-30)
- [The Orchestration Layer’s Ballmer Problem](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-orchestration-layers-ballmer-problem): How Higgsfield's unlimited free access trial advances the playbook for AI orchestration platforms: converting workflow leadership into data advantages and proprietary models. (2026-07-28)
- [Agentic Commerce (3/3): Market to People, Sell to Software](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/agentic-commerce-part-3): Agentic commerce is here, and the brand playbook isn't uniform. See how discovery, evaluation, and conversion shift, and which strategy wins in each quadrant. (2026-07-23)
- [Agentic Commerce (2/3): Who Gets To Transact](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/agentic-commerce-part-2): Agentic commerce's enablement layer is really four problems: access, identity, settlement, and governance. Who gets to transact—and where value accrues. (2026-07-09)
- [Two Ways to Break a Robot](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/two-ways-to-break-a-robot): The two ingredients powering general-purpose robotics are also its two attack surfaces. Why provable security is becoming the fifth bottleneck in physical AI. (2026-07-06)
- [Legal AI](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/legal-ai): The Moat, Not the Model (2026-06-29)
- [Agentic Commerce (1/3): A New Channel Not a New World](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/agentic-commerce-part-1): Where agents will dominate, where they won't, and why the dividing line isn't technology. (2026-06-25)
- [Speed was a niche, now it's strategic](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/cerebras-paths-the-way-for-the-asic-wave): Cerebras paves the way for the ASIC wave (2026-06-23)
- [Is Video AI Having Its GPT-3 Moment?](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/is-video-ai-having-its-gpt-3-moment): Inside the Models, the Economics, and What Comes Next (2026-06-19)
- [Forward Deployed Lock-In](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/forward-deployed-lock-in): Why the labs are moving into services (2026-06-16)
- [Robots: Valuations and The Scaling Question](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/robots): Why humanoid robotics startups are valued at or above billion-dollar forecasts, and whether scaling laws from AI justify the premium paid for pre-revenue robotics companies. (2026-06-08)
- [Long Live Software (2 of 2)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/long-live-software-2-of-2): How incumbency creates the right to challenge (2026-05-26)
- [Software is Dead?! (1 of 2)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/software-is-dead-1-of-2): Death by a thousand cuts (2026-05-19)
- [Where Systems of Intelligence Begin](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/where-systems-of-intelligence-begin): Accounts Receivable Goes First (2026-05-05)
- [AR Operations Today](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ar-operations-today): Satisfied But Stuck–And Ready for Agents (2026-04-28)
- [Part II: Cognitive BI](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/cognitive-bi): From Dashboards to Autonomous Analytics (2026-04-07)
- [Part I: Conversational Analytics](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/conversational-analytics): The Illusion of Chatting with your Data (2026-03-18)
- [Global Mega Trends: 2026](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/global-mega-trends-2026): Growth in the age of constraint (2026-03-10)
- [Stablecoins: Enabling Direct Flights](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/stablecoins-enabling-direct-flights): How stablecoins are cutting payment’s layovers and streamline treasury operations (2026-02-24)
- [Selling AI-Native Service, Now.](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/selling-ai-native-service-now): The Playbook for Selling Autonomous IT to Enterprise Buyers (2026-02-10)
- [AI Infrastructure: Compute (4/4)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-infrastructure-compute-4-4): The inference opportunity: will software rule the infra layer? (2026-01-28)
- [AI Infrastructure: Compute (3/4)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-infra-compute-3): Neoclouds and the new economics of AI Compute (2026-01-20)
- [AI Infrastructure: Compute (2/4)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-infra-compute-2): Can new entrants break Hyperscale lock in? (2026-01-13)
- [AI Infrastructure: Compute (1/4)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-infra-compute): Sizing the market for AI Compute (2026-01-05)
- [The Agent Control Plane](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-agent-control-plane): Build & Buy in One Governed Stack (2025-12-09)
- [Ideology vs. Infrastructure Reality](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ideology-vs-infrastructure-reality): The Fleet Electrification Experiment Playing Out in Real Time (2025-11-25)
- [The Blueprint for a Smarter Future](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-blueprint-for-a-smarter-future): AI's Role in Construction (2025-11-04)
- [AI bubble signals intensifying](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-bubble-signals-intensifying): or one company’s strategic gambit? Our view on circular transactions (2025-10-10)
- [Google's End of &num=100](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-end-of-and-num-100-is-google-fortifying-its-ecosystem): A Pre-Remedy Move to Fortify its Ecosystem? (2025-10-08)
- [Voice Agents 2.0](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/voice-agents-2-0): From “Sounds Human” to “Thinks Human” (2025-10-07)
- [Open Source Generative AI](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/open-source-generative-ai): From OpenAI to open source AI: how it unbundles the AI stack   (2025-09-09)
- [Enterprise Search Is Entering a New Era ](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/enterprise-search-is-entering-a-new-era): A shift to systems of intelligence (2025-09-02)
- [The Playbook for Winning in Market Consolidation](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/a-five-part-series-the-playbook-for-winning-in-market-consolidation): Insights from our Research Desk: A Five-Part Series (2025-08-07)
- [Accelerating the shift to stablecoins](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/accelerating-the-shift-to-stablecoins): The potentially unintended impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025-08-06)
- [Click. Buy. Drive.](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/click-buy-drive): Navigating the Next Era of Vehicle Commerce (2025-07-14)
- [The Long Road to Automating the SOC](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-long-road-to-automating-the-soc): Why it’s time to shift the focus to acceleration   (2025-07-01)
- [Systems of Intelligence](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/systems-of-intelligence): The Replatforming of Enterprise Software (2025-06-27)
- [AI is Rewriting the Rules of Supply Chain](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-supply-chain): Unlocking a $65 billion opportunity (2025-06-17)
- [Salesforce's $8B Wake-Up Call: The End of Systems of Record](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/insights-from-our-research-desk-salesforce-s-usd8b-wake-up-call): Insights from our research desk (2025-06-10)
- [The AI Pricing Cliff No One Wants To Talk About](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-ai-pricing-cliff-no-one-wants-to-talk-about): Insights from our research desk (2025-06-02)
- [AI in Procurement](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-in-procurement): Table stakes capability rather than a competitive advantage (2025-04-29)
- [Deregulated, Not Unregulated](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/regtech): Regulation Technology In The Age Of Constant Change (2025-04-14)
- [Breaking Ground](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/breaking-ground): Addressing Construction's Productivity Challenge (2025-04-01)
- [Authenticating AI Agents](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/authenticating-ai-agents): The Next Big Identity Crisis in Cybersecurity (2025-03-18)
- [AI's Undervalued Asset](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-s-undervalued-asset): Data’s pivotal role in the next era of Gen AI deployment (2025-03-04)
- [Vertical Software Is Having A Moment](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/vertical-software-is-having-a-moment): Why vertical SaaS is causing industries to rethink software (2025-02-20)
- [The Future of Transfer Pricing](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-future-of-transfer-pricing): A Call To Action For CFOs (2025-02-11)
- [Taking Identity Security Forward](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/identity-security): Locking down security's last mile (2025-01-23)
- [The Next Wave of IT](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-next-wave-of-it): From Outsourced to Autonomous (2025-01-07)
- [The DataOps Playbook](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/the-dataops-playbook): Lessons from the DevOps success story  (2024-12-17)
- [AI Agents-Breaking Down the Verticals](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-agents-rewiring-organizations): Rewiring Organizations (2024-11-26)
- [Towards the AI Agent Ecosystem (Updated)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/towards-the-ai-agent-ecosystem): An informational guide for users exploring the space (2024-11-12)
- [Supplier Intelligence](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/supplier-intelligence-): Cost efficiency and resiliency through insights (2024-10-22)
- [It’s Time for DataOps](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/dataops): And time to 10x your data platform (2024-09-23)
- [Usage-Based Billing](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/usage-based-billing): Not new, but likely never more important (2024-09-17)
- [Building RevOps Capabilities](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/building-revops-capabilities): Acquisitions are inevitable (2024-09-16)
- [RevOps - The Road to Virtual Employees ](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/revops): RevOps Intelligence Tools (2024-09-05)
- [IIoT at a Tipping Point](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/iiot-at-a-tipping-point): What needs to change for it to deliver real value and why we think now is the time (2024-08-13)
- [Data Security](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/data-security): Shifting data left: How this minor piece of the cybersecurity stack could be the most fundamental (2024-06-24)
- [A Key Piece of the Renewables Puzzle](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/energy-storage-solutions): Energy Storage Solutions (2024-05-24)
- [Unstructured Data Pipelines](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/unstructured-data-pipelines): Capitalizing on the "junk" of the data world (2024-05-14)
- [It's Time Local Went Global](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/real-time-payments): Real-time Payments (2024-04-30)
- [Pain at the Pump](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/fuel-cards): Opportunities to innovate with fuel cards (2024-04-12)
- [Food & Agriculture Traceability](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/food-traceability): A field of opportunity (2024-04-03)
- [Silicon Synapses for AI ](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-hardware): AI hardware in data centers and on the edge (2024-03-12)
- [Conversational AI and the Future of Customer Service](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/conversational-ai): A shift in the customer support landscape (2024-02-15)
- [Unified APIs](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/unified-apis): Building connections (2024-02-06)
- [The Future of Demand Forecasting Software](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/demand-forecasting-software): A balancing act between innovation and market realities (2024-01-17)
- [Industrial Intelligence](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/industrial-intelligence): Why manufacturing needs software now more than ever (2023-12-11)
- [3rd Generation FP&A Tools](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/3rd-generation-fp-and-a-tools): A new wave of tools revolutionizing a dated CFO tech stack (2023-11-27)
- [Towards the AI Agent Ecosystem](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/ai-agents): A Technical Guide for Founders & Operators Building Agents (2023-09-20)
- [The Next Chapter of Embedded Finance](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/embedded-finance): A Guide for How and Where to Play - to Win (2023-08-09)
- [The Future of Transportation Management Systems (TMS)](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/tms): Why the next generation TMS won't be a TMS at all (2023-07-18)
- [Why Using Internal Tools to do More with Less Matters Today](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/no-code-and-low-code): No-Code and Low-Code  (2023-03-16)
- [Why Hyperautomation Will Unlock a More Efficient Future](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/hyperautomation): Our deep dive report on the race to control corporate chaos (2023-02-02)
- [Every Company Will Be a Logistics Company](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/logistics-overview): A key lesson from the last few years of pandemic life is that every company needs to start thinking like a logistics company, even become one themselves (2022-12-15)
- [Check this Out - Part 2](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/b2b-checkout-2): A Deep Dive on Checkout Challengers (2022-12-07)
- [Check this Out - Part 1](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/b2b-checkout): There’s never been a truly digital checkout experience in B2B commerce, but that’s changing (2022-11-21)
- [The Dominoes are Starting to Fall](https://www.activantcapital.com/research/b2b-commerce-overview): Why B2B Commerce is the $100 Trillion Market Technology Hasn’t been Able to Crack – Until Now (2022-11-09)

## Pages

- [Research library](https://www.activantcapital.com/research): All published research, filterable by topic
- [Founders](https://www.activantcapital.com/founders): The founders we partner with
- [Team](https://www.activantcapital.com/team): The Activant team

## Feeds

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