Falling tree limbs in Birmingham  kills one person
A Jefferson County man was sentenced to over 54 years in prison
including 420 months for planning the shooting of a federal prosecutor
and 212 months for the initial drug and gun charges previously filed by the U.S
Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama
Authorities said court records and trial evidence revealed that in February 2023
while 32-year-old Michael Roman Black was incarcerated in Hoover on federal charges
he disclosed to a fellow inmate a plot to have a federal prosecutor assigned to his case shot and killed
Authorities said Black detailed his intentions to enlist two associates outside of prison to carry out the shooting while the prosecutor was driving home in her car
authorities said law enforcement verified its credibility and took swift action to disrupt the planned murder
During subsequent questioning by federal agents
authorities sad Black attempted to conceal his involvement by providing false information
a federal jury in Birmingham found Black guilty on charges of threatening to murder and soliciting the murder of a federal prosecutor
and for making false statements to a federal agent
“Michael Black’s plot to target a federal prosecutor was not only an attempt to evade accountability for his crimes
but it was also a brazen act of vengeance,” said Acting United States Attorney Davidson
“Such conduct strikes at the heart of our judicial system and must be met with severe consequences
I commend the investigators and prosecutors whose swift actions protected a life and ensured justice was served.”
Black was sentenced after pleading guilty in January to several charges
including the distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine
possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine
and being a felon in possession of a firearm
Black's criminal activities spanned from July 2021 to September 2022
a Bessemer police officer stopped Black's vehicle due to a switched tag
The officer observed syringes in the driver's side door pocket
two vacuum-sealed bags containing 892.6 grams of methamphetamine
and 60 rounds of Blackout .300 caliber ammunition
Black was found with $8,254 in cash and a plastic bag containing 12 hydrocodone pills
authorities said Black sold 435 grams of pure methamphetamine to an undercover officer
FBI agents and a task force officer arrested Black at a residence in Bessemer
A search warrant led to the recovery of cocaine
a Blackout .300 caliber rifle loaded with 100 rounds of ammunition
an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle loaded with 100 rounds of ammunition
Black was a convicted felon prohibited from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition
“The attempt to orchestrate violence against a federal prosecutor is a grave assault on public safety and the principles of justice we rely upon,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer
“The DEA remains unwavering in its commitment to stand alongside the U.S
Attorney’s Office to safeguard those who dedicate themselves to upholding the rule of law.”
Michael Black is being held accountable for plotting to assassinate a federal prosecutor
Today's sentence makes clear that those actions will not be tolerated,” said Christopher DiMenna
“The FBI's partnership with Hoover Police Department
Jefferson County's Sheriff's Office
and DEA were critical in bringing Black to justice
We will not stop our pursuit of criminals who threaten those who serve to uphold justice.”
<a href="#page_top">The Healthcare AI Adoption Index </a>
<a href="#Top-takeaways">Top takeaways</a>
<a href="#The-state-of-AI-adoption-today">The state of AI adoption today</a>
<a href="#Experimentation-but-not-yet-production">Experimentation but not yet production </a>
<a href="#The-development-strategy">The development strategy</a>
<a href="#How-startups-can-win">How startups can win</a> 
<a href="#Introducing-the-AI-Dx-Index">Introducing the AI Dx Index </a>
<a href="#How-buyers-can-navigate-the-fast-evolving-AI-ecosystem">How buyers can navigate the fast-evolving AI ecosystem</a>
<a href="#Healthcare-enters-the-era-of-AI-co-development">Healthcare enters the era of AI co-development</a>
The healthcare industry has reached its AI inflection point
a technological shift mirroring the earlier transition to electronic health records (EHRs)—but this time unfolding at warp speed
The changeover from paper to electronic health records spanned more than a decade, aided by the <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/cms-and-onc-final-regulations-define-meaningful-use-and-set-standards-electronic-health-record">HITECH Act of 2009</a>
which paid incentives to doctors to adopt EHRs
plagued by reticence to change and complex
just two and a half years after LLMs became accessible to the masses
with a wave of experimentation underway to reinvent care delivery
in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Bain &amp; Company
surveyed more than 400 leaders across Payer
and Provider segments to understand how healthcare buyers are approaching GenAI applications—what jobs-to-be-done they prioritize
and where their projects sit on the adoption curve
today’s GenAI innovation isn’t just coming from healthcare AI applications but rather from inside healthcare organizations themselves
Internal development teams are building their own tools by partnering with horizontal AI labs (i.e.
or by procuring new solutions from incumbent systems of record and healthcare IT (HCIT) vendors
and investors accurately assess where our industry is in the AI transformation curve and where the most significant areas for opportunity in the near term lie across nearly 60 jobs-to-be-done
Healthcare organizations overwhelmingly see AI as a strategic priority—and they’re backing that belief with investment
95% of respondents said GenAI will be transformative
with 85% of Provider and 83% of Payer leaders expecting it to reshape clinical decision-making within three to five years
given the industry’s regulatory complexity and low tolerance for error
84% believe AI will impact clinical decisions
80% expect it to reduce labor costs through automation
and many see the potential for revenue gains
only 57% of Pharma executives believe AI will drive most new therapy discoveries in the next decade
reflecting the complexity and long timelines of drug development
Executives are putting real money behind their AI ambitions; the data shows that there’s an upfront investment to AI innovation and staying ahead of the curve compared to competitors means starting yesterday
(We describe budgeting trends further below.) Still
Only half of the organizations surveyed have a clear AI strategy
54% are already seeing meaningful ROI within the first year of GenAI implementation
To understand where GenAI can deliver the most impact
we surveyed executives on 59 key jobs-to-be-done across the healthcare value chain:
We found that nearly half (45%) of the use cases across these jobs are still in the ideation or POC phase
For a full description and breakdown of adoption levels of use cases across these three segments
Providers are ahead in POC experimentation, while most Payer and Pharma use cases remain in the ideation phase. Unlike the <a href="https://www.healthit.gov/data/quickstats/national-trends-hospital-and-physician-adoption-electronic-health-records#:~:text=As%20of%202021%2C%20nearly%204,physicians%20had%20adopted%20an%20EHR.">EHR adoption wave of the last few decades</a>
Providers haven’t had the need for regulation or government payments to incentivize them to adopt AI
AI-powered ambient scribes for clinical documentation illustrate this rapid adoption
and another 40% are actively piloting solutions
Many organizations are running dozens of GenAI POC projects at once
but only 30% of completed POCs have made it into production
Providers have the most projects making it into production among the segments we tracked
and large Providers in particular are leading the charge with 46% of their POCs going to production
So why are so many organizations stuck in the experimentation phase
This wave of AI adoption has been driven by “test and learn” urgency
with boards and CEOs pushing teams to discover possible use cases
as they are early adopters with more resources to bring AI into production
executives across all segments pointed to four main barriers to scaling AI:
budgeting has yet to be a roadblock to GenAI experimentation
65% of AI projects are being funded through a centralized budget and 35% through departmental dollars
the majority across each segment stated that budget was not a barrier to scaling AI projects from POC into production scale
Healthcare systems and buyers know the urgency of AI and so budgets are being cleared for the sake of experimentation because of these strategic priorities
and 56% Providers) are seeing GenAI budgets growing faster than general IT budgets
controlling the purse strings and determining 70% of the decisions on AI use cases
startups need to prioritize strategic relationships with the C-suite
Many AI projects today are being developed in-house with horizontal AI labs and large tech partners
While startups are no longer the only source of innovation
healthcare AI entrepreneurs have the opportunity to reimagine how to work with buyers to serve emergent AI strategies
Over half (54%) of executives we surveyed feel comfortable with and want to work with early-stage startups
48% prefer a more innovative startup over an established technology player and 55% of executives would only consider working with startups with proven track records
Startups must rethink their go-to-market strategy as they build market traction and prove results with peer healthcare organizations—healthcare buyers want innovation but are still risk-averse
It's the classic catch-22: You need social proof to sell
but you can’t get social proof until you do
Less than 15% of projects are currently being developed at and procured from startups
as organizations believe they can build AI tools on their own or procure incremental AI features from incumbents
51% of Payer projects are being developed internally
compared to 43% of Pharma projects and 27% of Provider projects
Off-the-shelf models and horizontal automation platforms are great for creating simple minimum viable products (MVPs) and automated process improvements that don’t require consistent high accuracy
can offer more applications that are specific
(More best practices below in the “How to win” section.) We expect the failure rate of early-stage startups in this space to stabilize over time
in turn helping more healthcare AI startups gain traction with buyers
If you’re an entrepreneur building in healthcare
here’s a hard pill to swallow: Buyers aren’t going to assume your tool is best-of-breed just because you’ve got some venture funding and an exciting pitch
Only 32% of our survey respondents agreed that startups have best-of-breed GenAI solutions that are superior to those developed by large technology incumbents
Startups are not just competing with other startups
but with a full ecosystem that includes potential buyers’ internal teams
incumbent systems of record like Epic and Veeva
here’s how your AI application startup can stand out in this increasingly crowded field in healthcare
Winning startups don’t just sell a point solution
they land with a high-impact use case and then expand
adding capabilities to adjacent processes upstream or downstream of the core workflow
This enables a company to deepen touch points either by serving more needs of a particular user or by sitting at the intersection point between stakeholders (e.g.
collaborations between internal teams or external parties
To help AI startups prioritize healthcare use cases
and current AI adoption to give startups a strategic edge when engaging healthcare buyers
here’s how we position these use cases on the index:
a use case moves to the right on the x-axis
and its opportunity may shrink as the problem gets solved and manual work is reduced
Let’s look at documentation support (like AI scribes) as an example
This category has a high Adoption Score (53) because over 60% of organizations are already using it
much of the manual work is already being automated
so its Opportunity Score is now in the medium range (43)
Sellers and buyers will view the 2x2 chart differently
Entrepreneurs and investors should focus on the top left
where high Opportunity Scores overlap with early AI adoption
will gravitate toward the middle or top right
where solutions show traction—unless they’re open to co-developing early-stage projects
prioritize use cases where you can access unique data
and align with the appropriate budget owner
Also consider how mission-critical the process is—these high-impact areas offer significant opportunity but come with higher stakes and slower adoption
Review slides below to see how each of the jobs-to-be-done surveyed score on the three components of the AI Dx Index
The best way to move beyond a POC is to show clear impact
which can start with case studies from similar environments or even other departments within the buyer’s organization
Our research states the most compelling startups and organizations assess and measure ROI ahead of a POC or pilot by:
startups must demonstrate both financial and non-financial impact
We discovered that buyers expect fast results
with 60% of respondents across segments expecting to see positive ROI in under 12 months
And the onus will be on the startup to acknowledge its customer’s investment of time and resources—75% of survey respondents say startups fail to recognize the real cost of a POC
startups must also get ahead of scaling challenges—like data governance
and integration—by involving key stakeholders early
We learned in this survey that a whopping 64% of buyers are willing to co-develop solutions with startups
“Co-development” in this context might look like embedding sales engineers and developers into the selling process
But how should startups shift from traditional healthcare go-to-market cycles to co-development without becoming glorified custom software development shops
Enterprise healthcare buyers expect to have some level of control and ride shotgun with companies
To avoid the <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/seven-product-strategies-to-prevent-churn-for-b2b-ai-app-leaders">churn common in AI services</a>
startups should position their product as a reimagined end-to-end workflow that evolves with customer needs
highlighting domain expertise over technical novelty
Startups can build defensibility by investing in deep integrations with related software—especially when their solution connects multiple systems and handles novel data sources beyond a single record system
and set startups apart from incumbents limited to adding features within existing platforms
We believe that within a year or two many internally built POCs will struggle to scale or deliver reliable accuracy
which will then prompt a shift toward proven solutions
While it’s easy to stitch together off-the-shelf models to build an MVP
sustaining 99% accuracy at scale is far harder
the less effective horizontal tools become
there’s still low-hanging fruit in single-step workflows ripe for general automation
high-accuracy use cases and pair them with a seamless
many face internal resistance from colleagues wary of disruption
Our survey revealed key barriers to full deployment: lack of in-house expertise
Startups should position their tools as empowering—not replacing—teams
Traditional healthcare software vendors have captured only a fraction of the value they create: Software makes up just <a href="https://knowledge.medicusit.com/how-much-should-my-healthcare-organization-spend-on-it-in-2023">&lt;5% of healthcare administrative spend</a>
limited by IT budgets and point-solution sales (aside from systems of record)
GenAI offers a more scalable way to tap into the remaining 80–90%
The AI wave gives founders a real opportunity to align pricing and business models with the value they deliver
which allows you to get compensated for the work you provide
Aligning your model to the value you create underscores the importance of measuring clear
we hope AI-first companies can tap into opex budgets—especially since
funding isn’t a barrier when ROI is well-defined and continuously proven
If you’re a healthcare executive reading this
you have likely been inundated by AI pitches given the rapid pace of innovation similar to the majority of our survey respondents
you are likely under pressure to drive AI progress through managing dozens of projects and POCs
We’ve developed a shortlist of principles to navigate common challenges
leveraging insights from our report partner Bain &amp; Company
which advises hundreds of healthcare clients on AI strategy
success with AI requires behavioral change—especially in large organizations
While large companies have the resources to invest
they’re also held back by bureaucracy and legacy processes
And AI’s potential to disrupt workflows can spark fear
Prime your organization for the potentially massive value that can be created and have strong change management plans in place to help drive adoption of new technology
the CTO of a large health system we surveyed said it well: Storytelling
rather than imposition of a new technology
is required by AI champions to bring stakeholders across their business onboard
Leaders can help establish the willingness to experiment
and mid-level employees can showcase the benefits of AI-powered tools to their colleagues to help drive adoption
Moving quickly and adapting as necessary is the name of the game
This involves collaborating with a range of different stakeholders
from foundational tech partners to agile startup partners
building all tools internally is unlikely to be a winning strategy for most organizations
It is also critical to be nimble and adaptive yourself
We know this can be especially tough for large organizations
Success depends on having a flexible strategy with clear priorities
not every AI project will succeed—many internal efforts and startups will fail
Watch how your peers are partnering and use those case studies to guide your own decisions
Ecosystem partners can also help to make your governance
and cybersecurity AI-ready while enforcing responsible AI policies
We know you’re feeling urgency (and you should be!)
but don’t forget we are still very early in the AI journey
which will take us from today’s chatbots to AI systems that will one day be able to run organizations
Get ahead of your competitors by developing technology where differentiation matters
adopting tools across your organization and maximizing the value of your unique
AI is no longer a distant promise in healthcare
and beginning to reshape how care is diagnosed
healthcare organizations aren’t simply buying AI—they’re building it
often in partnership with horizontal AI labs
they’re bypassing traditional IT budgets and vendors
tapping into services spend as AI becomes core to workforce productivity and operational performance
many health systems are now running dozens of pilots at once
whether startup-led or internally-developed
Our AI Dx Index is designed to help founders and healthcare buyers identify the most promising use cases—those with the greatest pain points
we expect these scores to evolve as more projects move from ideation to implementation
and as the gap between hype and real value narrows
The results of this research highlights healthcare’s inflection point
Reach out to steve@bvp.com or sguerra@bvp.com—we’re ready to continue the conversation
An official website of the United States government
Our outpatient clinic provides primary care and specialty health services
and the other health services we offer at our Bessemer VA Clinic
Select a service on this page to check the hours
Wheelchair availability:&#xA0; Wheelchairs are available upon arrival for patients who need them to access the building
We work with Disabled American Veterans and county Veterans Affairs directors to provide transportation for Veterans and authorized caregivers to get to scheduled medical appointments
Many localities in the region provide other van services to Veterans
<a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="ec25b550-5056-4f69-b46a-5a8d8c4dcf92" href="/birmingham-health-care/dav-vans-transportation-for-veterans" title="DAV vans: Transportation for Veterans">Learn more about DAV and the other van services available in your&#xA0;county</a>
Beneficiary travel benefits include round-trip transportation from your home to the medical center
<a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="10fc2e24-1c24-4fca-8d3e-4f7373c59f00" href="/health-care/file-travel-pay-reimbursement" title="VA travel pay reimbursement">Find out if you qualify for beneficiary travel benefits</a>
Our laboratories provide a full range of clinical and diagnostic testing services
Our laboratory and pathology services include:
Our medical center and clinics provide consultation
and treatment for a range of issues that may impact your mental health or emotional well-being
Our confidential outpatient services include individual and group therapy for:
<a href="/birmingham-health-care/health-services/mental-health-care" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="16cdf313-94de-463c-8329-41be1d1d5636" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Mental health care">Learn more and connect with a care coordinator</a>
My HealtheVet is a web-based tool you can use to manage your care and improve your health from your computer or mobile device
You can access your personal health records and use tools to manage your care through our My HealtheVet online system
You can also use My HealtheVet to refill your prescriptions
you can contact our coordinator by phone or in person
<a href="http://www.va.gov/health-care/manage-health/">Learn more and register for My HealtheVet</a>
Our optometrists provide many eye-related services and treatments like:
Our pharmacy provides you and other Veterans with convenient
efficient service to make it easy to get your medications and medical supplies
<a href="/birmingham-health-care/pharmacy" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="d674d6c3-007e-4109-9685-90d994df1bdc" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Pharmacy">Learn more about our pharmacy</a>
Your VA primary care provider will work closely with you to plan for all the care you need to stay healthy and well throughout your life, including immunizations and vaccinations. They will also work with&#xA0;family members or caregivers who support you.
A strong network of family and internal medicine specialists and services can offer you the best possible care. Internal medicine doctors (internists) prevent, diagnose, and treat adult diseases. Doctors who specialize in family medicine provide primary health care to the entire family. Your primary care team can coordinate the many services you receive such as:
Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan in New Delhi and Haripriya Suresh in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng
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Haripriya reports on India’s $254-billion Indian information technology (IT) industry, the country’s burgeoning GCCs, as well as new-age startups. With seven years of experience, she has previously reported on politics, civic issues, crime, and breaking news in south India, and tracked the country’s gig economy. She has a degree in Media Studies with a specialisation in journalism from the Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication.
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By <a class="text-decoration-none" href="/authors/WBRCDigitalStaff/">WBRC Digital Staff</a>Published: May. 3, 2025 at 9:07 AM CDT|Updated: May. 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM CDTEmail This LinkShare on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInBESSEMER, Ala. (<a href="http://www.wbrc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WBRC</a>) - A 47-year-old Bessemer man has been sentenced for his role in an elder fraud scheme
Escalona says Terrance Alonzo Pruitt executed a Power of Attorney over an elderly family member with dementia without the victim’s knowledge or permission
Escalona says Pruitt planned a scheme to defraud the victim by becoming a joint account holder on the victim’s bank accounts
changing the address on the victim’s bank accounts from the victim’s address to his address
removing two payable on death (POD) beneficiaries from one of the accounts
and adding two POD beneficiaries to another account
then transferred $550,000 in funds from the victim’s accounts to his personal bank accounts
Escalona says Pruitt used some of these funds for his own personal benefit
and moved $500,000 to a new bank account and did not include the victim on the account
In December 2024, <a href="https://www.wbrc.com/2024/08/06/bessemer-man-indicted-fraud-scheme-involving-elderly-family-member/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.wbrc.com/2024/08/06/bessemer-man-indicted-fraud-scheme-involving-elderly-family-member/">Pruitt was convicted by a jury of two counts of wire fraud</a>
District Court Judge Anna Manasco sentenced Pruitt to 50 months in prison
was increased because he received an enhancement for obstruction of justice after Pruitt committed perjury when he testified in his own defense at trial
Rummage and Brett Janich prosecuted the case
If you or someone you know has been a victim of financial fraud
contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311)
<a href="https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice">Click or tap here</a> for information about elder justice efforts
Get news alerts in the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wbrc-fox6-news/id449660326">Apple App Store</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.raycom.wbrc&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US">Google Play Store</a> or subscribe to our email newsletter <a href="https://www.wbrc.com/newsletter/">here</a>.
Armstrong Williams takes on the news of the week and asks the questions you want answered. Don’t miss our weekly town hall.
</a><a aria-label="ABC 33/40" class="ExpandedAlert-module_generalAlert__rkcO" href="/news/local/one-person-dead-another-injured-after-tree-limbs-fall-on-them-in-birmingham"></a>General Alert<a class="ExpandedAlert-module_generalAlert__rkcO" href="/news/local/one-person-dead-another-injured-after-tree-limbs-fall-on-them-in-birmingham">ABC 33/40   See MoreFalling tree limbs in Birmingham  kills one person
(WBMA) — The Bessemer City Council has paused a zoning request that would have paved the way for a proposed data center
The item was moved from the agenda without discussion or a vote at Tuesday&#x27;s council meeting
&quot;The fact that they removed it from the agenda means they know there&#x27;s controlled opposition and they aren&#x27;t going to be able to ram this through,&quot; said Ron Morgan
&quot;I think it was the biggest victory we could imagine
it&#x27;s the answer to a lot of people&#x27;s prayers
But it doesn&#x27;t surprise us because there&#x27;s so much evidence that says it should not be done at this place.&quot;
This comes as new legal challenge has been filed against a controversial data center project in Bessemer
with court documents submitted Monday requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately halt the project
made by three neighbors living near the proposed site
argues that the project would disrupt the area and threaten ecologically sensitive land
including Little Blue Creek and Five Mile Creek
They claim the project poses a threat to the habitat of endangered species such as the watercress darter and could impact the federally protected bald eagle
&quot;You have a community threatened by an enormous data center and they know very little information about the proposal
impact on the environment,&quot; said Attorney Reginald McDaniel
&quot;We&#x27;re in this for the long haul
so we expect to sling our rock and slay the giant.&quot;
and alleges that the city failed to provide proper notice to residents about the zoning change
It also raises concerns about transparency
pointing to a non-disclosure agreement signed by the mayor and other city officials
and claims that not all members of the public were allowed to speak before the city&#x27;s planning and zoning commission voted to recommend the project to council
Mayor Kenneth Gulley defended the practice
&quot;Every time I&#x27;ve approved projects for the city
and I understand when it comes to a community
but I took a sworn office to do what I&#x27;m supposed to do for the City of Bessemer
I don&#x27;t mind talking to anyone about anything that applies to a project
I cannot discuss the specifics,&quot; he stated
When ABC 33/40 I-Team reporter Valerie Bell asked what he would say to people who have questions and concerns
who don&#x27;t feel like they are getting answers
&quot;Well nobody has reached out to me concerning that
but at the appropriate time we will answer all the questions and stuff they choose
but we also recognize that God makes no new ground
It&#x27;s going to be developed at some particular point
We just have to make sure we do what is necessary to preserve the integrity of the community as best we can.&quot;
I&#x27;m all for them having a data center
or put it in an industrial center already zoned for data centers
don&#x27;t put it into one of the most pristine ecological environments left in Jefferson County just because you don&#x27;t want it in your downtown,&quot; he said
&quot;We&#x27;ll take a look at the complaint and go forth from there.&quot; He added
&quot;I took a sworn office to do what is in the best interest of the city of Bessemer.&quot;
Opponents of the data center remain determined
&quot;The city needs to understand this isn&#x27;t just a cash cow they are going to gleam
they are going to be spending money in the future for healthcare costs for residents impacted by these things,&quot; said Morgan
&quot;We as a community are determined to move forward from here today and fight the battles that are going to come
and they are going to come because there&#x27;s going to be a massive resistance from the city against this.&quot;
<a href="#page_top">Bessemer’s AI agent autonomy scale</a>
<a href="#What-is-Bessemer’s-definition-of-an-agent">The definition of an agent </a>
<a href="#At-Bessemer-we-believe-an-agent-is-defined-by-these-five-criteria">The five criteria </a>
<a href="#Our-autonomy-scale-for-the-AI-agent-workforce">Our autonomy scale for the AI agent workforce</a>
<a href="#Agentic-workforces-are-coming">Agentic workforces are coming </a>
while there’s constant bandying about the term “agent,” there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus from those in the AI ecosystem on what this term actually means
We’ve seen everything from prompt-driven chatbots to workflow orchestrators referred to as agentic systems
Technical builders gravitate toward Sutton and Barto’s <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/class/psych209/Readings/SuttonBartoIPRLBook2ndEd.pdf">proposed definition</a> where agents are systems that “have explicit goals
and can choose actions to influence their environments.” But this classic reinforcement learning definition often feels unsatisfactory to applied AI practitioners since it doesn’t fully capture the nuances that are fundamental for an AI agent to be useful in a real-world setting— including reliability
we’re often asked to provide a perspective on which industries or functions have already deployed or soon will deploy AI agents at scale
This led us to develop a framework—inspired by methods from the self-driving car industry—to help us compare the state of AI agent readiness across industries as well as within a vertical by looking at the maturity of use cases
We don’t believe manually-controlled AI systems (such as prompting
or low-code no-code automations) demonstrate the criteria to be considered agents
For example: A developer prompts an LLM to generate code using a chat interface
Agents need to display intelligence in order to truly provide guarantees of reliability
allowing agents to reason over context and self-review
just as a human would review their own work before submitting
chain-of-thought provides visibility and traceability for humans to monitor “correctness.”
We expect that foundation models will increasingly subsume the chain-of-thought reasoning we see today in agentic applications
we expect that chain-of-thought will still be required at the application level to provide more control and visibility of the intermediate steps
For example: AI has a sense of contextual cues so that it can provide better code suggestions with logic traceability
It also critiques itself to improve its coding ability over time
The distinction at this level is that the AI can not only provide relevant information
but it can also digest information accurately and perceive its environment to propose actions
a human-in-the-loop is still the pilot and the agent requires manual review of its proposal and/or need authorization from a human to operationalize actions
For example: Code co-pilot can generate code completion suggestions within the integrated development environment (IDE)
but the developer needs to deploy the code and/or a human manager needs to approve the code agent to push changes directly into the repository
AI agent has authority and entitlement to operational systems so that it can complete tasks autonomously with strong guarantees of reliability
For example: Code agents can generate code and make changes directly and correctly to a code base without a human manager to review
Fully autonomous AI employees can set and meet goals by understanding their environment and navigating complex
They can complete tasks they’ve never seen before
For example: AI agents fully act as software engineers
Agents can interact and collaborate successfully by sharing context and executing tasks in concert to achieve a common goal
For example: AI agents perform like a software engineer SWAT team
but now agents can recruit and assess other AIs
For example: AI engineering manager or AI product manager coordinating and critiquing other AIs for a feature launch
The potential for AI to function as full employees and even teams of employees is vast. But it doesn’t end there. Beyond the L6 frontier, we like to draw upon Marvin Minsky’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pb3z2w9gDg">’society of mind’ theory</a> to understand the unlimited potential for economically viable work to be transformed as AI agents transcend individuals or teams
and begin organizing themselves into scaled hives and even full companies:
but rather a ‘society’ of simpler processes—called ‘agents’—working together to create what we experience as thought
In time, we believe that AI will improve and even automate every information job done by human beings, including ours as investors. This will bring massive transformation both on the enterprise and customer side, not just fulfilling <a href="https://nextbigteng.substack.com/p/moving-from-ai-assistants-to-ai-agents">AI’s productivity promise</a> by enabling humans to be more efficient at work
but possibly causing an evolution of the workforce toward an agentic majority
If you’re not sold on the imminent possibilities of artificial intelligence, we’d invite you to consider that this might be <a href="https://x.com/davidcowan/status/1896629935734996998">an illusion</a>
We believe that innovation is a borderless endeavor
and as a globally integrated firm we back great founders wherever they are building
Bessemer opened its doors in Bangalore nearly two decades ago to be at the epicenter of innovation taking shape in India
Our enthusiasm has only grown stronger with time
we are announcing our second dedicated India fund with $350 million of capital to support founders in the region at the earliest stages and beyond
With our second fund, we will continue backing early-stage founders building across AI-enabled services and SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer brands and cybersecurity. Partners <a href="https://www.bvp.com/team/vishal-gupta">Vishal Gupta</a> and <a href="https://www.bvp.com/team/anant-vidur-puri">Anant Vidur Puri</a> and their team are at the helm of this investment strategy and continue to discover and invest in India’s most promising entrepreneurs
long-term partners for our portfolio leaders
more than 80% of our investments in India have been Series A or earlier — companies we’ve continued to support as they navigate each phase of growth
several of our companies have scaled to exceed $1 billion valuations
Perfios and Livspace — and we’ve proudly seen nine of our portfolio companies IPO
It is an exciting and unique time for entrepreneurship in India
and we’re eager to partner with the most talented founders applying AI advancements and technical innovation to India’s services economy
India-specific market needs within fintech and insurance
Our approach to-date has led us to investing in more than 80 startups in India, including investments from our first India fund, such as <a href="http://www.boldfit.com">Boldfit</a>, <a href="https://moveinsync.com/">MoveInSync</a>, <a href="http://www.peppercontent.io">Pepper Content</a>, <a href="https://shopdeck.com/">Shopdeck</a>, <a href="http://www.vetic.in">Vetic</a>, <a href="https://www.zopper.com/">Zopper</a>, and more.
We’re incredibly fortunate to have partnered with audacious entrepreneurs and accompanied them on their journey from the seedling of an idea to building enduring companies, and we are thrilled by the vast opportunities ahead for current and future founders building in India.
(WBMA) — A proposed 700-acre data center in Jefferson County is facing strong opposition from local residents
located near Rock Mountain Lake Road in Bessemer
would require a zoning change from agricultural to industrial to accommodate the development
who lives within 500 feet of the proposed site
expressed his concerns about the impact on his quality of life
Our quality of life would go in the toilet
I don&#x27;t want to live around an industrial park,&quot; said Morgan
The site would be located behind the home he has lived in for more than 40 years
we&#x27;re talking about natural water sheds
we&#x27;re talking about little blue creek runs through it
We&#x27;re talking about a habitat for deer
and other residents were planning to voice their opposition to the zoning change at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting being held Tuesday at Bessemer City Hall
with additional people standing around the room and in the hallway
&quot;Have you thought about the impact of the animals
in the area you&#x27;re going to damage from that,&quot; one woman said to the planning and zoning commission
The applicant requesting the zoning change is Logistic Land Investments LLC
who promised high paying and high quality jobs
environmental and noise studies would be done to ensure no impact
&quot;What we are saying is that we have no choice but to adhere to the noise ordinance and we&#x27;re here to tell you we have to do that and of course will do that and well do it in a way to ensure you see studies before we build.&quot;
The planning and zoning commission voted in 4-2 to approve the recommendation
Now the item will be sent to city council for the final decision
ABC 33/40 reached out to Mayor Kenneth Gulley for more information
his Chief of Staff stated that he and the mayor
ABC 33/40 is still awaiting a response on how residents can be accurately informed about developments in their community given the city&#x27;s current inability to discuss the proposal
AI companies commercializing frontier research and reshaping industries require both technical depth and practical wisdom
helping founders bridge the gap between theory and deployment is what makes investing compelling
Lance will apply his extensive background in applied artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) toward conducting technical due diligence on early-stage AI opportunities and on supporting founders across the portfolio who are building in an applied setting
"My journey from academic computer science to building AI systems at X
the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X) and early-stage startups showed me that the hardest challenges often lie in implementation," says Lance
"The current wave of AI innovation isn't just about breakthrough algorithms – it's about understanding how to make them work as usable
That's where I believe I can add the most value to founders."
Lance brings a builder's mentality to venture capital
having founded multiple companies including a sports analytics firm and a subscription optimization platform
His hands-on experience spans from bootstrapped startups to Google's most ambitious moonshot projects
The intersection of academic rigor and builder pragmatism has defined Lance's career
He has led AI early stage projects at Alphabet working on AI drug discovery and computer vision
As one of the first engineers at contact center AI platform Cresta
he helped build language models for contact centers long before the current LLM revolution
he pioneered the company's early machine learning efforts
recognizing the potential of deep learning before it entered mainstream consciousness
Lance received both his master's and bachelor's degrees from Duke University
focusing on Computer Science (CS) and Electrical Engineering (EE)
He pursued additional graduate-level coursework in Applied Mathematics (ICME) at Stanford
and remains connected to the university’s AI network
“Lance has emerged as a valuable thought leader on AI entrepreneurship as a Bessemer Operating Advisor,” says David Cowan
“Entrepreneurs appreciate learning from his proximity to leading research settings and keen ability to incorporate the latest science into product-led growth strategies.”
“Even in today’s hyper-competitive AI startup market
companies won’t win on profound algorithmic breakthroughs alone,” Lance said
but the ‘potatoes and vegetables’ are still crucially important,” he added
“Early-stage AI founders need to remember that all the rules of building a viable software business still apply—like talking with real users
and developing a go-to-market (GTM) strategy with a self-serve motion and compelling marketing
I look forward to partnering with entrepreneurs in the Bessemer portfolio on building the next generation of great AI companies.”
(WBMA) — Michael Turner was named Bessemer City Schools interim superintendent Tuesday
who accepted the superintendent position at Gonzales Independent School District March 11
Turner is currently the principal at Pinson Valley High School
According to his biography on the school&#x27;s website
Turner is entering his 26th year as a professional educator
with 18 years of experience as a school administrator
He previously served as a high school teacher and coach
Turner is now in his 10th year as principal at Pinson Valley High School
&quot;Untraditionally appointed to this position
but I ask that each one of you give me the opportunity to prove that this is the right job for me and i&#x27;m definitely
I&#x27;m gonna come to work and I&#x27;m gonna work when I get here,&quot; said Turner
The district is currently under state intervention
and the State Board of Education has outlined the process for appointing a new superintendent
Arreola all the best but continues to move forward with the business at hand in the school system
they&#x27;ll continue to resolve the issues within the school system.&quot;
&quot;I know that there are challenges in all education regardless of where you are in  the state of Alabama but I&#x27;m here committed
that&#x27;s what I&#x27;m about,&quot; said Turner
Turner said he has been in education since 1995
<a href="#page_top">The $1M ARR playbook </a>
<a href="#Calculate-the-path-to-1M-ARR-through-customer-acquisition">Calculate the path </a>
<a href="#Win-your-first-customers-by-yourself">Win your first customers</a>
<a href="#Create-a-sales-strategy-to-guide-your-efforts">Create a sales strategy</a>
<a href="#Want-to-sell-to-enterprise-companies-Keep-three-things-in-mind">Three tips for enterprise selling</a>
<a href="#Tailor-the-strategies-that-are-right-for-your-startup">Tailor what&#8217;s right for your startup</a>
<a href="#Five-unique-tactics-for-effective-selling">Five unique tactics for effective selling</a>
<a href="#Understand-the-ROI-of-your-first-sales-hire">Understand the ROI of your first sales hire</a>
<a href="#Find-a-fractional-revenue-leader-to-help-when-recruiting">Find a fractional revenue leader</a>
<a href="#Land-your-first-customers-—-then-build-to-scale">Build to scale</a>
<a href="#Video-with-our-experts">Video with our experts</a>
Going from $0 to $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) marks your transition from an idea to a revenue-generating business
It signals you are now on the path to product-market fit
It’s also one of the metrics that can help you get Series A funding
we share the sales strategies and tactics to help entrepreneurs reach their first seven figures in ARR
The number of customers required to reach a revenue milestone is inherently tied to both the nature of your product and your target market
targeting enterprise clients typically means fewer deals—perhaps as few as five—because the higher contract values allow you to hit your goals more quickly
reaching the same revenue target in the SMB segment could require several hundred customers
it’s crucial to define your target average Annual Contract Value (ACV)
This figure not only helps you estimate how many customers are needed to reach your revenue targets
but it also informs the overall strategy for acquiring those customers
Higher ACVs often necessitate a more personalized
whereas lower ACVs may allow for a more scalable
Driving your first dollar of revenue begins with what we call “founder-led sales.” Translation
you’ll hire someone and find a repeatable model to build out your team-led sales approach
you’ll likely need to hire a few salespeople to hit your $1 million ARR goal
Paul advises founders to drive the first twenty or so customers
“You’ve just sold 20% of your company to a venture capitalist for X million
Tony reminds entrepreneurs not to count sales made to former colleagues or those with strong existing relationships as accurate indicators of success
“Part of mastering founder-led sales is understanding what the experience will be like for your first sales hires—who typically won’t have pre-existing relationships with prospective clients.”
“Founders should be closing deals at the early stage
and at least one deal with a total skeptic,” says Kate
“Relying on familiar connections can create false signals of product-market fit since these buyers already trust you
founders should leverage every possible avenue to generate early revenue
as it’s a crucial part of the learning process
Just ensure that a significant percentage of your first 10-20 customers come from cold outreach.”
Selling on your own teaches you a lot about your customers
You’ll gain direct insight into their pain points
This feedback can refine your ideal customer profile
It’s also useful when you hire your first salespeople
giving you a sense of what’s achievable and allowing you to set realistic targets and expectations for them
sales is less about a perfect product and more about your vision
Many early customers are buying into your vision
So they need to hear the passion and belief directly from you
They need to trust that you’ll deliver on what you’re promising
might not be able to sell your vision with the same conviction
“There’s no better salesperson at any company than the founder to talk about why they founded the company and their vision
This is true no matter how many millions or billions of dollars in revenue you have,” says Kate
Prospects also treat founders differently than reps and are less likely to raise their defenses when speaking to them
You don’t need a hundred-page sales strategy document or to have every detail figured out from the start
agile plan that reflects how you can support customers at every stage — from the first interaction through post-sale
“Be customer-obsessed when designing your sales process
Think beyond just getting a signature and consider the entire sales cycle when deciding who to hire and how to structure your process,” says Kate
Focus your sales strategy document on three key areas:
you likely have a sense of your target market
“Make your ideal customer profile uncomfortably narrow — so narrow it almost feels too small,” Paul says
Who are the key decision-makers in your deal
What nuances to the problem you solve do they experience
These two questions are critical during discovery calls
your messaging should be focused on the persona
every conversation is an opportunity to further refine your outreach approach and messaging
And even if your product has broad applications
focus on one ideal customer profile at a time
Perfect serving them and then build a repeatable process before targeting others
Tony recalls his experience at an early-stage data integration company
While they could integrate any data into apps
they found early success with a medical client using the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) standards
Then they focused 80% of their efforts on similar customers
leveraging the HIPAA use case to build credibility and refine messaging
they expanded to a second use case in the mortgage industry
based on the mortgage industry standards maintenance organization (MISMO)
you’ll build repeatability in your selling process,” he says
Note: Your ICP may evolve or become the wrong fit
simply adjust your sales strategy to match your evolving audience
Should you choose a self-serve <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/10-product-led-growth-principles">product-led growth (PLG)</a> approach or direct sales? Or sell <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-gtm-guide-to-building-saas-channel-partnerships">via channel partners</a> or <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/building-a-robust-cloud-ecosystem">marketplaces/platforms</a>
It depends on your product and target audience
“What's your product and how do people want to buy that?”
If your product is easy to use, has a low entry barrier, and appeals to self-motivated users, <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/introducing-enterprise-sales-to-a-product-led-growth-organization">PLG</a> might be the best approach. For example, if you’re <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/explainer-how-to-approach-enterprise-sales-at-a-developer-centric-company">a developer-centric company, such as Twilio</a>
as developers often prefer engaging directly with the product over interacting with sales reps
you might need a direct sales model with a more hands-on approach to guide prospects
You can also <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-gtm-guide-to-building-saas-channel-partnerships">leverage channel partners</a> to distribute your product
Kate shares how Stripe’s partnership with Shopify Pay helped them reach a broader market and scale
“We had a maniacal focus on tech-forward developers who could integrate payments
and some of those developers turned out to work at companies that brought us enormous scale,” she says
companies fall into one of three sales motion categories: small
meaning you’ll need fewer deals to hit your $1 million goal
While it’s possible to have product-market fit across all three motions
Paul advises not to operate across them simultaneously
“They're so dramatically different with different skill sets
Trying to do three at the same time is really hard,” he says
However, if you decide to target multiple segments, keep in mind that each requires <a href="https://www.bvp.com/pricing-course">distinct resources</a> to close and deploy deals
so have clear internal discussions about what it will take to acquire and serve these customers,” Kate says
your sales motion should align with your buyers and the value your product brings
Selling to enterprise companies gets you to the $1M ARR goal fast
Paul highlights the revenue concentration problem
Enterprise deals are often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
so losing one or two can significantly impact your revenue
enterprise customers have high expectations for the product
This can extend development timelines and delay revenue generation
enterprises often expect to co-develop your product and may request changes or features
But these requests can disrupt your original roadmap and strategy
It doesn’t mean you should never do work outside of your core roadmap
Tony suggests making an exception if the work can bring significant publicity or recognition
but it helps secure the logo and a million-dollar deal
Don’t go beyond your core roadmap unless the company is willing to publicly support you through logos
You don’t want to end up with secret enterprise deals you can’t talk to anyone about
as that makes scaling much harder,” Tony says
He also recommends working only with enterprise companies that are leaders in their category
These companies can unlock opportunities with other enterprises in the market
he advises against pursuing enterprise customers for two main reasons: it’s a risky decision for early stage startups
and teams simply won’t learn as fast since enterprise cycles are long and costly
avoid targeting enterprises at first,” he says
“Focus on the mid-market and build up until your product matures
Many founders look to sales playbooks for guidance
but the reality is that what works for one startup may not yield the same results for another
The key to successful selling is aligning your sales strategy with the tangible value your product delivers
Once a founder understands who their product serves and the specific problem it solves
the next step is outbound selling—finding the right buyers and budget holders who are willing to pay to make their pain go away
If you're a founder and you don’t know exactly where to start with outbound selling
here are the acquisition tips our experts shared
Paul recommends that founders take a narrow and deep approach to prospecting
“Don't prospect into too many accounts at the same time
Most buyers have a strong aversion to mass outreach or generic automated sequences,” he explains
“Every company has a secret door—you just need to find it by being smart and tactical,” Paul advises
“You won’t uncover it by throwing 500 people into a 35-step automated sequence.” By focusing on quality over quantity
founders can build meaningful relationships
There’s a reason YC startups sell their software to other YC startups—it’s the same reason early-stage companies forge partnerships with venture capital firms to access their portfolio networks
Network selling is a powerful go-to-market (GTM) strategy that leverages existing relationships
and strategic partnerships to accelerate sales
which rely on cold outreach and paid marketing
founders must think strategically about where and how to activate these networks
this means directly selling into trusted ecosystems—such as investor portfolios
network selling is embedded in the product itself
B2B AI startups often integrate into incumbent platforms to tap into existing customer bases
Many AI companies go to market as point solutions
solving a highly specific problem before expanding into a broader platform
standalone AI apps can struggle to become deeply embedded in existing workflows
we’ve seen AI startups leverage network selling by forming tight integrations with dominant platforms
gaining access to an established user base while driving adoption
new network-driven opportunities will emerge—whether through strategic alliances
Network selling is a high-leverage GTM strategy that complements PLG
Founders who intentionally cultivate strategic relationships
and embed virality into their product can unlock faster
more scalable growth while reducing reliance on outbound sales
When Paul was building Sales Impact Academy
one of the most effective demand generation strategies they used was high-quality webinars
Instead of aggressively pushing for sales meetings or focusing too much on their product
they led with value—creating content that resonated deeply with their ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and buying personas
The key to successful webinars is curating topics that directly address the biggest challenges of your audience—even if they’re only tangentially related to your product
By bringing in high-profile industry leaders ("wow" names) as speakers
and position your brand as a trusted authority
This approach not only nurtures potential customers but can even create pipeline opportunities with the very industry leaders you feature in your events
While webinars are typically used for inbound marketing
they can also be a powerful outbound tool when you proactively invite key prospects to attend
they are more likely to engage with your sales team and enter your funnel
adding that webinars also provide an opportunity for co-selling with your reps—giving them a platform to engage with prospects in a low-pressure
webinars were particularly effective for helping customers with deployments
guiding them on how to integrate the product and maximize its value
webinars generate a wealth of repurposable content—from blog posts to LinkedIn clips—that further extends their influence
this is a great program to develop if you were to invest in demand generation
you not only build awareness but also create a repeatable engine for pipeline growth
Paul recommends a highly effective outbound tactic: sending personalized LinkedIn voice or video messages instead of generic cold direct messages
This approach helps you stand out in a crowded inbox
making it more likely that prospects will engage
an SDR used this strategy and she secured more meetings than even some experienced AEs and consistently booked more meetings than any other SDR
The personal touch of a voice note or video message feels more authentic and less transactional
increasing the chances of breaking through and getting a response
AI is transforming sales, but mass email automation isn’t always the best use case. Paul and Kate caution against relying on AI for generic outreach—effective cold emails are relevant, thoughtful, and valuable, qualities AI-generated messages have traditionally lacked. However, AI-powered GTM tools are evolving rapidly, with solutions like <a href="https://www.outreachai.co/">Outreach AI</a> leveraging hyper-personalized
The real power of AI lies in sales research and personalized outreach. Instead of automating bulk emails, use AI to gather insights that make outreach more targeted and compelling. For example, <a href="https://www.getseam.ai/">Seam AI</a>
can help build a pipeline with AI agents that prospect exactly like your best salespeople
these types of AI tools can also assess engagement signals to guide the next best action—whether that’s a tailored follow-up
By using AI strategically for sales intelligence
early-stage SaaS teams can accelerate prospecting
and boost response rates—without losing authenticity
These five approaches are by no means exhaustive
but they provide founders with a strong starting point
Once a founder has secured their first customers
the next step is to build a sales team that can scale and drive the business toward new revenue milestones
No two early-stage go-to-market (GTM) motions are identical
A startup’s first sales hire—and their objectives—will vary based on industry
and whether the business follows an enterprise-led
It also depends on whether the startup is creating a new category
The first rule of thumb for founders hiring their initial sales team is to define customer and business needs first
the cost of hiring—whether for an Account Executive (AE) or a sales leader—should be justified by the revenue they generate
Startups with minimal revenue should avoid making a VP of Sales their first hire
as their skillset is best suited to scaling an existing sales operation—not building one from scratch
a seed-stage SaaS or AI startup with a PLG sales motion may not need a traditional sales team at all—at least not right away
the best first sales hire is an on-the-ground salesperson who can sell directly and build repeatable sales processes
Alternatively, <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/understanding-churn-and-building-an-action-plan-to-fix-the-proverbial-leaky-bucket">hiring a customer success (CS) rep</a> first can be a smart move
Whether your first hire is a salesperson or a CS rep
their primary job is to help refine your ICP —which is foundational to building a scalable sales motion
A great early sales hire works alongside the founder to define these insights
and optimize where to invest time and resources
If you do bring a first sales hire before the $1M ARR threshold
know that it’s a crucial decision that can either accelerate or slow down your velocity
you set the foundation for long-term GTM success
The hiring process is daunting, especially for first-time or technical founders. It involves creating job descriptions, deciding compensation, sourcing and interviewing candidates, onboarding the hire, etc. While external recruiters can help, their fees can reach as high as <a href="https://outstaffyourteam.com/articles/recruiting-fees">30%</a> per candidate
which might be too much for a startup just trying to make its first million
Instead, hire a fractional revenue leader or chief revenue officer (CRO) to <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/how-to-build-and-lead-a-world-class-startup-team">build your early team.</a>
“Expecting a technical founder to build the first sales team can be as absurd and risky as asking a sales-oriented founder to build the early technology team,” remarks Paul
It’s a growing trend — a few of the CROs that support Bessemer portfolio companies are fractional
It can alleviate the hiring stress (a non-trivial amount of time and brainpower) and gives you access to high-level expertise for a few hours a week at a more cost-effective rate
“It’s less risky as they’ll set up compensation plans
“A great VC is meant to help find the right people to support you
It can include advisors and other experts too,” Kate says
Another recruiting tip is to <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/best-practices-from-our-portfolio-for-a-high-performing-sdr-bdr-function">hire in pairs</a> — two business development representatives (BDRs)
two sales development representatives (SDRs)
It also lets you compare performance and establish benchmarks
if one SDR creates fifteen sales qualified opportunities (SQOs) and another five
This setup promotes healthy competition as they both may strive to outperform one another which can benefit the company
and having someone who shares the experience can significantly boost morale
One of the most important things to do at this stage is to take action
Don’t worry about building a perfectly scalable sales machine before you’ve generated revenue
Your priority is to land those first customers as quickly as possible
Once you’ve gotten them you can build from there
For more actionable insights, check out the <a href="https://www.bvp.com/gtm-course">Go-to-Market Course</a> we designed for early-stage companies
We share some best practices and insights to help leaders gain traction
— Railroad crossings in Bessemer will undergo temporary closures starting Tuesday
as crews with Norfolk Southern conduct necessary repairs
Each crossing is expected to be closed for one day
A representative with Norfolk Southern says the work will completed on about 14 miles of rails
The rails will be replaced due to wear and tear over the years
Work will begin at the 14th Street crossing (Highway 150) and will continue to five other crossings
All these crossings run parallel to Carolina Avenue
The Bessemer Police Department said crews will make the needed repairs during the one-day closures and will return later to repave the crossings completely
Drivers are advised to make necessary adjustments when driving in these areas
<a href="#page_top">State of Health Tech 2024 </a>
<a href="#Where-have-we-been-2024-market-review">Where have we been? 2024 market review</a>
<a href="#Scaling-in-the-age-of-AI-Benchmarks-for-a-new-business-model">Scaling in the age of AI: Benchmarks for a new business model</a>
<a href="#Where-are-we-going-Emerging-trends-and-predictions">Where are we going? Emerging trends and predictions</a>
<a href="#Embracing-the-future-of-health-tech">Embracing the future of health tech</a>
As we reflect on the health tech landscape in 2024, one word stands out: resilience. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the sector has shown remarkable adaptability and strength in the face of ongoing market challenges. In our <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-health-tech-2023">State of Health Tech 2023</a> we covered in-depth the public and private market hype-cycle and steep market correction
as well as the heightened scrutiny of business models
we've witnessed the emergence of a new cohort of companies that are not just surviving but thriving in this new environment
Investors are demanding clearer paths to profitability
and a differentiated path to value creation
we've seen encouraging signs of recovery in private market deal-making
particularly companies that have achieved product-market fit and are scaling efficiently
Perhaps the most exciting development of the past year has been the explosion of interest and innovation in <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-healthcare-ai">artificial intelligence within healthcare</a>. Rock Health estimates that venture capitalists are allocating <a href="https://rockhealth.com/insights/h1-2024-digital-health-funding-resilience-leads-to-brilliance/">38% of new investment dollars</a> in healthcare to AI-enabled technology
driven by advancements in AI and machine learning
is set to transform the way we deliver and manage care
We’ve seen hundreds of new companies emerge at the intersection of health and AI
with more than 20 startups rapidly achieving product-market fit and growing from $1 to $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in record time
we'll discuss the current state of the health tech market
examine the performance of public and private companies
and publish for the first time benchmarks of health AI companies emerging as a new category
We'll also explore emerging trends and offer our predictions for the future of health tech
To gauge the overall performance of the sector
which serves as a snapshot of public market performance
we're excited to introduce two new companies to our index: Tempus and Waystar
both of which completed their initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024
Our expanded index now includes 34 companies
representing a total market capitalization of $98 billion
which is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the underlying value of the health tech industry in the private market
While the sector's performance over the past five years remains below its 2021 peak
we've seen notable improvements compared to last year's report
Last year, we predicted that the health tech sector had hit a trough. Since then, we have indeed seen public health tech stocks increase in value by 12%. Health tech performance is in line with high-growth software stocks [e.g. <a href="https://cloudindex.bvp.com/">the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index (EMCLOUD)</a>] and the incumbent healthcare index
The direct-to-consumer (DTC) subsector showed the strongest rebound from its low in 2022
led by exceptional performance from companies like HIMS
investors have been wary of DTC companies in Healthcare due to the fickle nature of consumer behavior and lack of differentiated distribution channels
the recent performance of this sector calls into question whether consumer demand and large market tailwinds (including GLP-1
etc.) will open up a renaissance for this model
provider SaaS has also seen significant improvement
bolstered by the addition of Waystar and Tempus to our index
This showcases a clear need for a new cohort of IPO that will serve as new oxygen to reinvigorate the "flames" of the sector
In addition to the solid post-IPO performance of Waystar and Tempus
we have seen early signs of the IPO window opening with a few other healthcare services companies going public (note: these are not included in our health tech index)
These debuts have injected some much-needed energy into Health Tech’s public cohort
this positive momentum has been partially offset by the loss of $20 billion in market capitalization due to take-private transactions
While these deals reflect the underlying value in the sector
they've also reduced the overall public market capitalization of health tech companies
where investors see a lot of value in overhauling these businesses with new technology like AI
we're cautiously optimistic about a new cohort of companies that could potentially go public and revitalize the sector
An influx of fresh market capitalization and new public listings will breathe life into health tech’s public market cohort
helping it rise like a phoenix from the ashes and driving its next phase of growth
A few factors that could make this possible:
A cohort of private companies across tech-enabled clinical services and healthcare SaaS companies await their debut
We are confident these prospects are showing continued strong profitable growth
and proven outcomes and ROI to their customers
These companies have the potential to serve as bellwethers for the next generation of public health tech firms
there has been plenty of recent private market investment into great growth stage businesses
The success of these upcoming IPOs will be crucial in attracting investor attention to health tech and spurring a new wave of innovation and growth
The private health tech market in 2024 shows resilience and adaptation
Private market investments have rebounded to pre-COVID levels
with Seed and Series C+ nearing 2020 deal volume
we have witnessed a bustling scene of new companies sprouting at the intersection of AI and healthcare
we have seen established businesses with scale that have honed their focus on growth and profitability over the last two years
and have successfully secured later-stage rounds in 2024
a gap remains—fewer Series A and B financings
This underscores the challenges that early-stage ventures continue to face in this evolving market
Our analysis of cohorts based on their Seed and Series A funding year reveals a cautionary trend:
Of the companies that are successful at raising a Series A
the median number of days to reach that milestone is 50% greater in 2024 than prior years
and is longer in health tech than in any other sector
This makes it more critical than ever for companies seeking to raise their first  institutional rounds to grow efficiently
The good news for those able to raise capital is that valuations have rebounded to peak levels
2024 health tech companies are garnering their highest median pre-money valuations across stages in several years
We hypothesize that there are several driving factors for the digital health valuation rise:
The influence of artificial intelligence on health tech investments cannot be overstated: the share of health tech dollars invested in AI-focused companies has increased by nine percentage points in just two years
the valuations that some of these AI companies are commanding can range 2-5x higher than their non-AI counterparts
These high valuation multiples showcase the private market excitement for new business models
We’re seeing multiple “mega rounds” of &gt;$50 million invested capital in exciting categories like AI-scribes, revenue cycle management (RCM), and back-office admin automation. Many of these companies have seen strong commercial market pull as <a href="https://www.bain.com/insights/healthcare-it-spending-innovation-integration-ai/">providers, payers and pharma stakeholders are focused on developing AI strategies</a> and are more willing to experiment with products that drive measurable ROI
we have witnessed a group of Series A and B companies rapidly reach scale with a new breed of business model we call “AI Services-as-Software”
we are excited to publish a new set of benchmarks for these companies in the $1-10 million ARR range
Let’s first revisit the Health Tech business models:
In last year's report, we <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-health-tech-2023#Prediction-1-AI-gives-rise-to-Services-as-Software">predicted the rise of AI-powered "Services-as-Software,"</a> and 2024 has proven this model's rapid adoption
these businesses use AI capabilities and agentic workflows to autonomously perform tasks that have typically required human intervention
By leveraging AI capabilities—such as large language models (LLMs)
and agentic workflow automation—they streamline processes and handle work for B2B customers across providers
Examples in our portfolio with this model include:
These companies aim to relieve operational teams from routine
time-consuming tasks like medical scribing
and back-office operations; others are enabling new ways of conducting work and behaviors
This approach is particularly valuable in light of the ballooning $1 trillion administrative spend and growing healthcare labor shortage
AI Services-as-Software companies allow organizations to better allocate their workforce to areas where human expertise is most critical
But let’s be clear: not every company “using AI” falls in this category
Leveraging AI and machine learning has become table stakes for entrepreneurs today—these technologies are no longer optional but a fundamental part of any successful toolkit in today's competitive landscape
We will see healthcare SaaS businesses leveraging AI to enable different features within existing workflow products
and tech-enabled clinical delivery businesses leveraging ML and AI to stratify patient risk
enable admin workflows and even triage patient interactions
AI Services-as-Software companies are enabling a new category where service is delivered as a product
SmarterDx is an AI-powered clinical audit layer for complex medical claims
The SmarterDx product reads through tens of thousands of data points (labs
notes) per patient chart and proposes changes and edits to a claim
this work is done by humans: by both clinical documentation integrity (CDI) nurses within the hospital and highly-specialized physicians within outsourced services companies
utilizing workflow software where a nurse reads and reviews the selected charts
the entire review is performed by SmarterDx and validated by CDI teams
delivering a completed service as opposed to a tool that accelerates existing bespoke processes
Healthcare has traditionally lagged behind other industries in digital adoption
we believe AI Services-as-Software companies are well-positioned to change that narrative
Healthcare SaaS ventures often face extended sales cycles
and challenges enforcing adoption among end-users
many companies pivot towards tech-enabled services or bespoke software point solutions that are purpose-built for a particular customer’s workflow and therefore easier to adopt
AI Services-as-Software businesses can build around complexity by taking on large portions of these complex processes themselves—either as an outsourced business process or a semi-autonomous agent
By taking on entire end-to-end chunks of work
they are able to “hack” distribution by allowing B2B customers to outsource entire functions
which limits the need for change management
or to provide an internal admin staff with machine super-powers “doing the work in the background.” By selling the end outcome
these companies tap existing procurement processes with large operating expenses (OpEx) and services budgets rather than small IT and software budgets
Investors and buyers are closely assessing new AI solutions based on their potential for adoption and the business value they deliver
Regardless of the quality of underlying AI models
it's critical to differentiate on distribution
effective monetization strategies and stickiness as a new system of “control” or function “orchestration.” We are early in the journey to adopt AI and the ways great entrepreneurs are building defensibility and durability is evolving
Early benchmarks from a cohort of ~20 companies that fall in this business model suggests an accelerated go-to-market trajectory compared to traditional SaaS models
Here are the benchmarks we're seeing for AI Services-as-Software companies compared to prior business models:
AI Services-as-Software average KPIs borrow from the best metrics across Healthcare SaaS and Clinical Services
We particularly want to highlight four learnings:
It's important to note that many companies early in the commercialization path start by quickly acquiring "experimental revenue”—pilot
or project-specific revenue to automate certain tasks—rather than true ARR
It is crucial for these companies to get past the experimental phase by demonstrating clear ROI and time-to-value
ideally selling to stakeholders with established budgets
We are hyper-aware these companies may not get paid per seat or a “recurring” software license but we think that is a good thing—instead get paid for the unit of value provided
as incumbents may be limited on how they incorporate and capture value of AI given their existing seat-based business model
it’s important to measure the quality of the revenue by measuring the re-occurrence of the transactional or services revenue
we look to customer feedback and other leading indicators like utilization and ability to meet SLAs as guidance to the quality
durability and re-occurrence of the revenue
AI Services-as-Software companies are experiencing record-breaking sales cycles due to high industry demand and are seeing customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback periods similar to those of SaaS
Several of our portfolio companies have seen &lt;6 month sales cycles
much faster than traditional Healthcare sales cycles of 12-18 months
3. Gross margins vary within subcategories of AI Services-as-Software companies. Borrowing from our <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud-2024#Trend-4-Vertical-AI-shows-potential-to-dwarf-legacy-SaaS-with-new-applications-and-business-models">Vertical AI team framework</a>
we see three types of AI Services-as-Software companies depending on the use case
end user involvement and human-in-the-loop feedback for reinforcement learning
There are three major drivers of cost of goods sold for these AI companies: model costs
and humans in the loop for quality assurance and reinforcement learning
Gross margin for AI Service-as-Software companies vary widely from 10% to 90% across the three subcategories
the average and median are 60% and 65% respectively across all sub-types
we see the companies with strong product-market-fit and growing scale able to get some economies of scale for model costs
They achieve this by commanding a premium for their service but also optimizing model batches
and data pipelines versus running everything through expensive models
We expect the same for human-in-the-loop costs as models become better over time and be a source of differentiation on quality
we are comfortable with lower gross margins than traditional SaaS businesses as we expect those companies with higher model costs or humans in the loop to be attacking more complex use cases requiring higher accuracy
We believe this will enable companies to command premiums
differentiate from competition and create moats over time
it’s important to be aware of these gross margin differences and make sure companies are not masquerading a service with “some” tech with low margins forever
It is also important to think about valuations in connection with quality of revenue and ability to improve gross margins over time
Let’s not make the same mistakes we made in COVID-era with tech-enabled clinical services
these AI Services-as-Software businesses have similar efficiency scores as traditional software despite the variety of gross margins
We are encouraged by this profitable growth
These early benchmarks are encouraging for a new way of digitizing the complex world of administration of healthcare
We are closely tracking companies as they scale beyond the first $10M and move towards $100M and beyond
We will be publishing our learnings as the number of companies and their scale changes
We can’t wait to see more use cases and companies built with this new business model
and see the adaptability and agility of founders to build defensible category-defining businesses
several key trends and opportunity areas are emerging
Here are our top predictions and "mini-roadmaps" for the coming year:
Payer administration insourcing: Services-as-Software adoption accelerates
We have seen most AI Services-as-Software companies establish early category leadership focused on provider workflows - health system and SMB practices alike
Many of these use cases are driven by advancements in AI-powered copilots and agentic services
We expect this coming year to see new companies arise focused on other stakeholders
such as payers and third-party administrators (TPAs)
<a href="https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/2024-employer-health-benefits-survey/?utm_campaign=kffehbs&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2anqtz-9kxptuhuj6lnnv-axnryoaqrpphe72kaeycp2koagcdfd5blo5raghyeucnorj4vew3mx0yfdhgopteqs5cffes0lkda&amp;_hsmi=328341111&amp;utm_content=328341111&amp;utm_source=hs_email&amp;stream=top">Ballooning premiums</a> are putting employers at a crossroads and we see this as an opportunity to disrupt payer
Plans and TPAs have outsourced many workflows to legacy tech-enabled services providers
We see an appetite to leverage AI and technology to reduce costs
improve quality and maintain greater control with new AI-first services - an insourcing wave of sorts
we're seeing increased adoption of AI-powered solutions for utilization management
contact-center benefit navigation and streamlined direct contracting with providers
Transparency tooling in pharmacy: Navigating the evolving landscape
The rising costs and complexity of distribution of prescription drugs have become a central focus of bipartisan efforts aimed at enhancing transparency and streamlining drug channels. Pharma manufacturers are facing pressure as the "gross-to-net bubble"—the difference between the list price and what manufacturers give up to middlemen in fees—has grown by about <a href="https://www.drugchannels.net/2024/07/pbm-power-gross-to-net-bubble-reached.html">40% in the last four years</a>
Payers and employers are facing financial strain with the approval of new and costly therapeutics
For the first time in history Medicare negotiated its own prices and is capping copays for seniors
Pharmacy benefit managers are facing scrutiny by the FTC for more rebate transparency
These factors are raising critical questions about how our healthcare system can sustainably fund and manage access to innovative therapies
We see significant opportunities for companies that can provide:
We expect to see increased investment in companies that can bring clarity and efficiency to the opaque world of drug pricing and reimbursement
We are particularly excited about platforms that can align incentives and cater to multiple stakeholders
AI-Assisted clinical services: Empowering independent providers
While the notion of AI replacing doctors remains a distant prospect
we're excited about the potential for AI to augment and enhance clinical capabilities
We envision AI as a tool to give healthcare providers "superpowers," enabling them to deliver more efficient and effective care
We're particularly excited about companies that can seamlessly integrate these AI capabilities into existing clinical workflows and payment models
enhancing rather than disrupting the patient-provider relationship
Value-based care system of record: Enabling the shift to risk-based models
The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) has set an ambitious goal to move all Medicare lives and most Medicaid lives into risk-based programs by 2030
coupled with profitability headwinds in Medicare Advantage (including V28 model changes and Risk Adjustment Data Validation audits
declines in Stars ratings and increased MLRs)
is creating a pressing need for more streamlined processes in value-based care models
and AI will play crucial roles in enabling this transition
We acknowledge this is a challenging problem with disparate data sources
many patient touch points and diverse programs
but there should be no better ‘why now’ than technical breakthroughs to leverage unstructured data
regulatory push for transparency and data reporting
and the threat for need of survival of many players to adopt technology and better infrastructure
The trends and predictions we've outlined here represent just a few of the many exciting opportunities we see in the health tech space
We acknowledge the uncertainty of the coming election and the potential opportunities that may arise as a result
we remain committed to supporting innovative entrepreneurs who are working to solve healthcare's most pressing challenges and improve outcomes for patients
no matter which party sits in the White House
we remain optimistic about the future of health tech
The resilience demonstrated by digital health companies over the past year
coupled with the transformative potential of AI and other emerging technologies
sets the stage for a new era of innovation in healthcare
While challenges remain—from regulatory hurdles to the ongoing need for sustainable business models—we believe the health tech sector is well-positioned to drive meaningful improvements in healthcare delivery
and innovators working tirelessly to reshape the healthcare landscape: your perseverance and creativity continue to inspire us
let's embrace the lessons learned from both our successes and setbacks
Thanks to Karen Jiang for her invaluable help evolving our Healthcare Benchmarking database
We've renamed our "Tech-Enabled Services" category from prior reports to "Tech-Enabled Clinical Services" to better reflect the nature of these businesses
entrepreneurs are innovating across industries
and building more possibilities for the future
The startups of today will look different tomorrow
But our mission remains timeless — we back ambitious founders
We reflected on ServiceTitan&#8217;s customer empathy and founder-market fit as key ingredients to its successful scaling journey
advising portfolio companies on go-to-market (GTM) strategy
Four founders on the state of the AI industry
why “it’s still so early,” and how leaders and builders can navigate the complex path from technological breakthroughs to industry adoption
we recognize that a CEO’s well-being directly influences business outcomes and company culture
and Emotional Health — that together form the foundation of a game plan customized for the goals and challenges CEOs face
In this year&#8217;s cloud market, AI companies have shown their ability to scale faster than others, averaging just over six years for this year&#8217;s Cloud 100 cohort to reach <a href="http://bvp.com/centaur">Centaur status</a> ($100 million ARR)
Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInBESSEMER, Ala. (<a href="http://www.wbrc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WBRC</a>) - Firefighters in Bessemer decided to let a junkyard fire burn itself out Friday morning
Smoke from the fire on Division Court in Bessemer could be seen from miles away
There is currently no word on what caused the fire
This story will be updated as more information comes available
Get news alerts in the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wbrc-fox6-news/id449660326">Apple App Store</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.raycom.wbrc&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US">Google Play Store</a> or subscribe to our email newsletter <a href="https://www.wbrc.com/newsletter/">here</a>
Four teachers at Bessemer City Middle School won big at 2025 PACER National Bullying Prevention Center&#x27;s Antibullying Contest
Educators tell us students were guided and supported through the process by their administrators and teachers: Principal Dr
Assistant Principals Sarah Person and Dominique Moore
Social Studies Teacher Tiffany Wilson-Pugh
and School Counselors Jennifer Veitch and Tonia Miller
To see the winning video, click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O88ZXm8_da0" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O88ZXm8_da0" class="themeColorForLinks">HERE</a>
<a href="#page_top">Ten principles for vertical AI businesses </a>
<a href="#Our-Vertical-AI-investment-framework">Our Vertical AI investment framework</a>
<a href="#Guiding-principles-for-building-vertical-AI-businesses">Guiding principles </a>
<a href="#Functional-value">Functional value</a>
<a href="#Economic-value">Economic value </a>
<a href="#Competitive-dynamics">Competitive dynamics</a> 
<a href="#Defensibility">Defensibility</a>
<a href="#The-massive-opportunity-for-Vertical-AI-takes-shape">The massive opportunity for Vertical AI takes shape</a>
A vertical AI business has many of the same building blocks as any great technology company. While essential <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/ten-lessons-from-a-decade-of-vertical-software-investing">lessons and frameworks</a> that have helped founders create industry-defining vertical software businesses still apply
they’re only part of the equation for those building the next vertical AI giant
Vertical AI founders and teams are uncovering a bounty of largely untapped opportunities
and with these opportunities come novel considerations
and risks that warrant founders’ attention
could solve problems and drive ROI where past software companies couldn’t
Through our partnership and analysis of some of the most valuable
and defensible vertical AI solutions to date
we’ve formulated initial guiding principles for building strong vertical AI businesses from the ground up
In the fourth and final installment of our Vertical AI Roadmap
we share ten key principles focused on strengthening the functional value
we offer founders advice on applying these high-level principles to take practical action starting at the earliest stages of company-building
<a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/part-i-the-future-of-ai-is-vertical#Vertical-AI-for-core-vs-supporting-workflows">Core and supporting workflows</a> across different sectors will have varying propensities for automation
a workflow’s propensity for automation — supporting or not — isn’t the only important consideration when deciding what to build
Customers will inevitably have different degrees of interest in automation or have strict
including in cases where builders view a given workflow as a perfect use case for automation
these preferences or requirements can be addressed in the design of your product
a dental office might want to set the procurement of medical supplies on autopilot if the order is below a certain cost but still want to have a human review larger purchases
An AI procurement solution can bake in that flexibility by completely automating certain orders while bringing a human in the loop for others
a law firm might be comfortable completely automating its client payment workflows
when it comes to a core workflow like writing legal briefs
they use human-in-the-loop-feedback to create the final output — such as creating an initial draft — because of potential pushback from the end client or a desire to maintain control over the final product
some solutions have seen less adoption because healthcare’s payment models have lagged behind its industry innovation
Just because something can be automated doesn’t mean it should be or that the conditions are right
given the possibility of industry-specific bottlenecks and other speedbumps
Your customer’s guidance in where and how they want to use AI should always be your North Star
— Bessemer City Schools could soon be on the hunt for a new superintendent as Dr
has been named the lone finalist for a superintendent position with the Gonzales Independent School District in Texas
The Gonzales Independent School District announced on social media that Dr
Arreola was named their lone finalist for the superintendent role on Monday
The district anticipates hiring her at their next board meeting on March 10
the district plans to offer a meet and greet with Dr
Arreola declined to take questions but stated
the Chief Administrative Officer with the state
Arreola&#x27;s potential departure was not discussed at a meeting held on Tuesday night
She was appointed as the superintendent of Bessemer City Schools in June 2023
no official announcement has been made by Bessemer City Schools regarding a search for her replacement
(WBMA) — The Bessemer State of the City address was given by Mayor Kenneth E
Mayor Gulley announced the Bessemer Municipal Airport received a new status
Gulley said the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) reclassified the city&#x27;s airport from regional to national for fiscal years 2025 through 2029
Gulley said this will make the airport one of only 122 national airports in the United States
The airport was designated as a national airport after meeting the following criteria: 5,000 or more instrumental operations
Bessemer airport is in great demand,&quot; said Gulley
&quot;I applaud the Bessemer Airport Authority for its vision
and progress that they have made at our airport.&quot;
Gulley said the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) Aeronautics Bureau approved taxi lane reconstruction projects totaling $1,825,925
the airport is expected to be more sought after by private airplane owners and pilots
Gulley also noted a $500,000 grant secured by U.S
Congresswoman Terri Sewell for a drone cage at the airport
STRIVE empowers leaders to enhance both personal well-being and professional success
We built STRIVE around six fundamental pillars—Sleep
and Emotional Health—that together form the foundation of a game plan customized for the goals and challenges CEOs face
and personalized guidance across these key areas
drawing from Exos’ extensive experience working with elite athletes and Fortune 500 executives
We’ve also brought on our first STRIVE-focused Operating Advisor—NFL athlete Arik Armstead—to advise and motivate Bessemer founders with best practices for peak performance
"Building a business is the ultimate endurance sport." 
“We are constantly reminded of how essential personal health and wellness is for operators to achieve a state of peak performance
not nearly enough is said or done about this in our industry,” said Byron Deeter
I experienced firsthand the physical and emotional toll it takes
We built STRIVE to offer a holistic approach that not only improves health
“Building a business is the ultimate endurance sport,” said Elliott Robinson
“STRIVE is more than just a program; it is a platform that deepens Bessemer's commitment to the leaders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and broadens our ability to support founders at every stage of their growth.”
The pressures of running a high-growth startup have undoubtedly put mounting stress on today’s operators and leaders
we conducted a comprehensive survey of our portfolio founders and CEOs on the state of founder wellness
Insights from the survey gave us further conviction to build STRIVE and provide entrepreneurs with the content
and community to address their personal goals and integrate sustainable
consistent habits that support their physical
and emotional wellbeing as they lead and serve their growing companies
“The demands of leadership today are similar to those faced by high-performance athletes,” said Amanda Carlson-Phillips
chief performance innovation officer at Exos
“Leaders are expected to perform at their best under immense stress
they need tailored strategies to reach peak performance and recover effectively
Our partnership with Bessemer and the development of STRIVE provides the tools and insights to make that possible for today’s founders.”
and operators ready to take their performance to the next level
we’ve opened access to select resources on how to put STRIVE into play
To get started with STRIVE, learn more at<a href="https://www.bvp.com/strive"> bvp.com/strive</a>
Proposal filed by Logistic Land Investments will now move forward to the city council
has been approved by the planning and zoning commission despite concerns from local residents
First reported by <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/abc-3340-news-iteam/proposed-data-center-faces-strong-opposition-planning-and-zoning-commission-meeting-bessemer-city-hall-non-disclosure-aggreement-concerns-jefferson-county-industrial#">ABC3340 News</a>
Logistic Land Investments LLC is planning an 18-building data center campus near Rock Mountain Lake Road in Jefferson County
The site requires a zoning change from agricultural to industrial
the planning and zoning commission has voted 4-2 to approve the recommendation
The proposal will now be sent to the city council for a final decision
every seat was accounted for at the planning and commission meeting that took place on March 11
Residents expressed concerns about quality of life
a resident of Jefferson County for more than 40 years
we’re talking about little blue creeks [which] run through it
A spokesperson for Logistic Land LLC said the company would adhere to the noise ordinance and said it would keep residents informed of any studies undertaken
The developer added it would ensure high-paying and high-quality jobs would be brought to the county
The publication reached out to Mayor Kenneth Gulley for more information
and the city attorney had signed a non-disclosure agreement and had no comment
It is currently unclear who is behind Logistics Land Investments LLC. The same company <a href="https://cityofvenus.diligent.community/document/feb4f78c-9858-42f6-b202-88862555f9a3/">previously filed</a> to build a data center in Venus
Currently, Lumen and <a href="https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/dc-blox-opens-first-phase-785m-birmingham-alabama-data-center/">DC Blox</a> have a presence in the Birmingham area of Jefferson County
The county is the most populous in the state
Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#83eaede5ecc3e7e2f7e2e0e6edf7e6f1e7faede2eeeae0f0ade0ecee">[email&#160;protected]</a>DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia
the Bessemer Board of Education met for a brief meeting
This was the first meeting since Gonzales Independent School District announced  Superintendent Dr
Dana Arreola was the lone finalist for their open position
Arreola was was not present at the meeting
President Terry Dawson said the board did not know about Arreola being up for another job before it was posted
&quot;We kinda discovered that when you guys did
So of course we have like to have gotten advanced notice
unfortunately we did not,&quot; explained Dawson
Arreola for her contributions to the district.&quot;
 Dawson said her last day on the job would be Friday
but her last day with the district is March 7th
See More: <a href="Bessemer schools face potential leadership shake-up as superintendent named Texas finalist" target="_blank" title="Bessemer schools face potential leadership shake-up as superintendent named Texas finalist" class="themeColorForLinks">Bessemer schools face potential leadership shake-up as superintendent named Texas finalist</a>
See More: <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/bessemer-city-schools-receives-accreditation-under-review-status-due-to-intervention-board-education#" target="_blank" title="https://abc3340.com/news/local/bessemer-city-schools-receives-accreditation-under-review-status-due-to-intervention-board-education#" class="themeColorForLinks">Bessemer City Schools receives &#x27;Accreditation Under Review&#x27; status due to intervention</a>
Arreola was hired in June 2023. On the  2022-2023 <a href="https://reportcard.alsde.edu/OverallScorePage.aspx?ReportYear=2024&amp;SystemCode=113&amp;SchoolCode=0000" target="_blank" title="https://reportcard.alsde.edu/OverallScorePage.aspx?ReportYear=2024&amp;SystemCode=113&amp;SchoolCode=0000" class="themeColorForLinks">report card</a> the district received a 61
The district would also go under state intervention
&quot;We are committed that we continue our gains
we are confident that we have the right staff
they are committed to ensure that we continue the gains
that we do not lose any of the gains that we achieved so far,&quot; he said
There&#x27;s no set timeline for when a permanent superintendent could be in place
Dawson said the state will appoint a Interim Superintendent first
&quot;We want to work very closely with Dr
&quot;We want to make sure we have the right person that we feel is the right person that is going to be a great fit for the school system
Dawson said there are no concerns about recruiting a superintendent
&quot;Want to make sure we are focused on getting the Interim Superintendent
again that will be appointed by the State Superintendent
as we move forward we want to make sure we are at the table
 that hopefully we will be working with the state to get the right person for Bessemer City Schools,&quot; said Dawson
While the district is under state intervention we asked the State Board of Education how the process of finding a new superintendent will work
Gonzales ISD posted more information to their Facebook about the hiring of Arreola
The post contains a statement from her saying
&quot;I&#x27;m excited to join a community that values education
Gonzales ISD commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with my vision for student success.&quot; 
The next Bessemer Board of Education meeting will be March 18th
about a week after Gonzales ISD anticipates hiring Arreola
(WBMA) — The Bessemer Police Department is currently investigating an wreck involving a school bus Wednesday afternoon
The police department said the incident happened at 8th Avenue North and 27th Street North
There were 33 elementary-aged children on board at the time of the crash and one 18-year-old.
The city&#x27;s fire department said there were minor injuries, but no one was transported to the hospital.
The second vehicle involved had three passengers, two were transported with non-life-threatening, not significant injuries.
— A Bessemer family is desperately seeking answers following the tragic death of their loved one
The incident occurred on March 18 near Academy Drive and Alabama Adventure exit around 12:30 p.m
Summers struck a metal object believed to be a sawmill blade chain that was left in the roadway
Attorney Lee Wendell Londer said the object covered almost the entire highway
where Summers&#x27; father expressed his grief
I ain&#x27;t never felt like this before in my life,&quot; he said
and the reason he was the best man at my wedding
because he my best man and I loved him.&quot;
The family is pleading for anyone who may have witnessed the accident or has information about the metal object to come forward
&quot;I&#x27;m just looking for some kind of answers &#x27;cause for him to hit something in the road like that—I know somebody seen something or knows something,&quot; said his father
&quot;So anything you can do just give me and my family a little bit of closure.&quot;
Attorney Loder stated that the family is exploring all avenues to hold those responsible accountable
&quot;Obviously this family wants to pray about how this person can be held accountable,&quot; he said
Londer cited Alabama statute <a href="https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=32-5-76" target="_blank" title="https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=32-5-76" class="themeColorForLinks">Section 32-5-76</a> Spilling Loads or Litter; Penalty as possible charges coming down the road in the investigation
the Summers family holds onto the memories they shared with Terence
&quot;The only thing I keep hearing in my head is me saying I love you son and he say I love you too pops,&quot; said his father
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Bessemer Police Department
Bessemer Police say this is still an open investigation
the Bessemer Board of Education will pause its regular meetings as members undergo training required by the district&#x27;s accrediting agency
The agency placed the school system&#x27;s accreditation status under review due to state intervention
See Also: <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/bessemer-city-schools-receives-accreditation-under-review-status-due-to-intervention-board-education" target="_blank" title="https://abc3340.com/news/local/bessemer-city-schools-receives-accreditation-under-review-status-due-to-intervention-board-education" class="themeColorForLinks">Bessemer City Schools receives &#x27;Accreditation Under Review&#x27; status due to intervention</a>
&quot;The board meetings we had in the past will not exist
The community meetings will share some updates  with the public what&#x27;s happening in the schools district,&quot; said Boyd
informed the community on Tuesday night that instead of board meetings
there will be community meetings to share information about the district&#x27;s happenings
and celebrate student and teacher achievements
we will have these community meetings and we will share information about what is happening in the district,&quot; said Boyd
&quot;They (public) can always come and speak with the superintendent
that&#x27;s what the superintendent is here for
The superintendent handles the day to day activities of the school district,&quot; explained Boyd
Boyd said the decision to transition to the community meeting was made last week
Keep in mind that because we are in state intervention Cognia had to come in and review the school system
During their review they saw quite a few deficits a lot of them required professional development for the board to receive
so we are doing this professional development at the same time the board would normally meet.&quot; 
The training will cover the roles and responsibilities of the board and superintendent
as well as financial and personnel matters
Boyd said the decision to halt the board meetings was made last week
When asked if there is any guarantee that board meetings will resume in September
&quot;I&#x27;m very hopeful if they go through the training they will understand what needs to happen during a board meeting and I&#x27;m very hopeful that when we come together we will have some good effective board meetings,&quot; he said
Superintendent Michael Turner was recently appointed by the state after Dr
Boyd will run the monthly community meetings
See More: <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/one-on-one-with-the-new-superintendent-of-bessemer-city-schools-education-state-michael-turner" target="_blank" title="https://abc3340.com/news/local/one-on-one-with-the-new-superintendent-of-bessemer-city-schools-education-state-michael-turner" class="themeColorForLinks">Former Pinson Valley principal Michael Turner takes on superintendent role in Bessemer</a>
Board member Margie Varner said she was willing to continue holding board meetings and take on the training required by Cognia
&quot;I thought that we really could do both,&quot;  said Varner
She said the board was never asked if they wanted or could do both
&quot;I thought we could do the training in a shorter period of time,&quot; she said
Varner said in the past when the board has had training
they did the sessions on a Friday or Saturday
 She was also concerned a cancellation notice was never provided since the board meeting was canceled
The next Bessemer City Schools community meeting is May 8th
Bessemer Venture Partners has joined forces with Forbes and Salesforce Ventures to showcase the most innovative minds in cloud technology through the prestigious Forbes Cloud 100
This definitive ranking spotlights the world's 100 most outstanding private cloud and AI companies alongside 20 promising Rising Stars poised to disrupt the industry
We're thrilled to announce that nominations for the 2025 Forbes Cloud 100 list are now officially open—your chance to be recognized among cloud and AI’s elite
Visit <a href="http://thecloud100.com/">The Cloud 100 website</a> to nominate a private cloud company
the 2024 Cloud 100 companies had a combined valuation of $820 billion—up from $654 billion in 2023—marking a 25% year-over-year increase
This is the highest aggregate value in Cloud 100 history
underscoring the ubiquity of AI and its potential to transform every corner of the software industry
The top 10 Cloud 100 companies gained even more influence this year
accounting for $299 billion in equity value—or 36% of the total list value
Of the 10 categories we assess across cloud computing
AI unsurprisingly ranked as the highest-valued
totaling $176 billion (21% of the list’s value)
followed closely by Fintech at $173 billion
In early 2025, several of the hottest AI startups on the list—such as <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/ais-race-to-value-a-conversation-with-abridge-anthropic-perplexity-and-scale-ai">Perplexity (#85)</a>—have already outpaced previous benchmarks to achieve “Centaur” status, the milestone of reaching $100 million or more in annual recurring revenue (ARR). According to <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-cloud-100-benchmarks-report">Bessemer’s benchmark research</a>
the average 2024 Cloud 100 company took 7.8 years to reach this milestone
while AI companies reached it even faster—averaging just 6.3 years
With 97% of last year’s honorees projected to hit or exceed $100 million in ARR
we expect to see even more Centaurs by year’s end
As a sign of the times, Cloud 100 Rising Star <a href="https://supermaven.com/">Supermaven</a> joined forces with <a href="https://www.bvp.com/news/supermaven-and-cursor-join-forces-creating-the-future-of-ai-powered-development">AI code assistant Cursor</a> in November 2024—a company that has skyrocketed to $200 million in ARR in under two years
powered by an astonishingly small and nimble team
the Cloud 100 community has consistently served as both a source of innovation and a signal for what’s to come—a bellwether for emerging business benchmarks
and technology trends across sectors worldwide
Cloud 100 companies are the current leaders of the private cloud and AI market—and the public tech giants of tomorrow
Private cloud companies are evaluated by their market leadership
made up of the leading public cloud company CEOs
will once again determine the Cloud 100 honorees
including top leaders such as Jenn Tejada of PagerDuty
The Cloud 100 judges’ qualifications precede them
Many of these CEOs were Cloud 100 winners before they were judges––they know how hard it is to build a business that makes this list
Nominations for the 2025 Cloud 100 are open now at <a href="http://thecloud100.com/">thecloud100.com</a> and run through April 30 at 11:55 pm PT
Forbes will announce the Cloud 100 and the 20 Rising Stars in Forbes Magazine and on Forbes.com
These 120 extraordinary companies don't just represent excellence—they embody the very future of cloud and AI innovation
pushing boundaries that most haven't even imagined yet
We're privileged to shine a spotlight on their remarkable journeys and celebrate the transformative impact they're creating across the global technology ecosystem
<a href="#The-lead-up-to-the-lakehouse-revolution">The lead up to the lakehouse revolution </a>
<a href="#Enterprise-data-architecture-is-a-call-and-response-to-innovation">Enterprise data architecture is a call and response to innovation </a>
<a href="#Modern-open-table-formats-are-unlocking-the-full-potential-of-the-lakehouse">Modern OTFs are unlocking the full potential of the lakehouse</a>
<a href="#At-the-tip-of-the-“Iceberg”-for-innovation-in-this-new-architectural-paradigm">At the tip of the &#8220;Iceberg&#8221; </a>
<a href="#We’re-at-the-precipice-of-Data-3-0-in-the-Lakehouse-era">The precipice of the Lakehouse era</a>
Enterprise data infrastructure is simultaneously a call and response to every technological shift — it both enables new products and businesses
while simultaneously evolving to support the demands created by these same innovations
Over the last fifty years, we’ve progressed from traditional on-premise data warehouses to cloud-native data warehouses and data lakes. Today, we’re at an exciting inflection point for the landscape as we’re evolving quickly past the modern data stack (which was the premise of our <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-data-infrastructure">Data Infrastructure roadmap from 2021</a>) due to multiple catalysts that are ushering in a Data 3.0 era
For one, as we noted last year, AI’s proliferation has led to profound changes within the <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-ai-infrastructure">AI infrastructure landscape</a>
But in the midst of this major technological shift
The very core of enterprise data infrastructure is being reimagined due to the impact of a revolutionary architectural paradigm—the data lakehouse—which supports multiple use cases
The lakehouse paradigm doesn’t just represent a marginal improvement to the architectures that came before it
it is a radical transformation that will bring forth an era of unprecedented interoperability and set the stage for the next wave of multi-billion-dollar data infrastructure giants to emerge
and Google Cloud are pouring trillions into AI-optimized infrastructure
while major players like Databricks have reached profitability
signaling a mature yet still rapidly evolving market
while the space has progressed significantly
enterprises are recognizing that the current cohort of data infrastructure architectures cannot keep pace with the AI revolution’s scale
This is fueling a burgeoning demand for a new architectural standard to rise
as we transitioned from Data 1.0 to Data 2.0
two dominant architectural paradigms had emerged: the cloud data warehouse and the data lake
each of these have limitations (both in terms of capabilities as well as user experience)
These shortfalls are now being critically exposed as the current explosion of AI-powered applications and techniques pushes these architectures beyond their limits:
AI applications and workloads require new abilities and capacities that many legacy infrastructure technologies have yet to support:
the demands from enterprise customers have evolved as well:
Each chapter of data infrastructure not only introduces new capabilities
but also reveals limitations that invite future waves of innovation and technological compounding
The dynamically changing tech and customer landscape compelled technologists to begin experimenting to find a viable successor to the warehouse and data lake
given the clear need for a higher standard of technology that could naturally capture the best of both worlds in a single architecture
Chatter around the unbundling of the data warehouse (aka the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240529203832/https://www.usenix.org/system/files/login/articles/login_winter18_08_khurana.pdf">Deconstructured Database</a>) began in as early as the late 2010s. New innovations around open table formats (such as <a href="https://github.com/delta-io/delta">Delta Lake</a>, <a href="https://github.com/apache/iceberg">Iceberg</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/apache/hudi">Hudi</a>)
and associated open standards for storage (such as Parquet
ORC) and data access (such as Arrow) began emerging during this time
It would be remiss of us not to recognize the groundbreaking generation of open table formats (OTFs) including Delta Lake
that has unleashed the power of the lakehouse
These formats are an abstraction of underlying files
presenting them as a single “table” that users can then access through an API
These formats enable advanced capabilities
Here, we’d like to give recognition to Iceberg for having a phenomenal year in 2024, including <a href="https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-agrees-acquire-tabular-company-founded-original-creators">Tabular being acquired by Databricks</a> in a blockbuster deal
By the early 2020s, these efforts ultimately led to the birth of a new architectural concept—<a href="https://www.cidrdb.org/cidr2021/papers/cidr2021_paper17.pdf">the data lakehouse</a>
The lakehouse paradigm isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a foundational shift that rewires how data infrastructure operates
By combining the refined power of data warehouses with the flexibility of data lakes
it unlocks a level of interoperability we’ve never seen before
This isn’t just about better performance; it’s about enabling entirely new capabilities in AI-driven applications
This phenomenon has now taken the industry by storm, with major market players, enterprises, and startups such as <a href="https://www.trmlabs.com/post/from-bigquery-to-lakehouse-how-we-built-a-petabyte-scale-data-analytics-platform-part-1">Bessemer portfolio company TRM Labs</a>
As the market coalesces around the lakehouse shift
the opportunity to back category-defining infrastructure companies has never been greater
We see a massive opportunity for bold founders to both pioneer brand new categories within the lakehouse stack and also disrupt existing infrastructure categories
Note: We recommend digesting our Data 3.0 roadmap in conjunction with our <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-ai-infrastructure">AI Infrastructure roadmap</a> since we believe that Data and AI are two sides of the same coin
With the right mix of technical innovation and go-to-market strategy
the post-modern-data-stack Data 3.0 ecosystem is primed for the rise of net new multi-billion-dollar infrastructure platforms
We have four major theses around how this space will develop in the coming years
and orchestrators are undergoing a fundamental shift in Data 3.0
these tools are serving user-facing production use cases
as opposed to internal deployments with a higher tolerance for failure scenarios
and view lineage and dependencies within its interface
which significantly advances in how AI systems integrate with the Data 3.0 ecosystem
MCP does this by providing a standardized framework for context-aware AI interactions that preserves relationships between queries
and output—while maintaining governance and security standards
This could unlock a future full of agentic innovations built on top of code-native infrastructure for use cases such as automating repetitive
with its unified batch and streaming model
This model has proved particularly valuable for continuous model training and inference workloads
but may be too complex to manage directly for most enterprises
As organizations mature their AI capabilities, we'll see the emergence of specialized stream processing patterns optimized for model serving and continuous learning pipelines that blend historical batch data with real-time signals for more accurate predictions and recommendations. Companies like <a href="https://chalk.ai/">Chalk</a> provide real-time inference as a managed platform
which is especially critical for companies that need to make instant
This evolution toward more streaming-first architectures represents a paradigm shift in how enterprises architect their data platforms to support AI-driven decision making at scale and we see a future of stronger co-existence between different styles of engines (see Thesis 4)
The metadata layer is emerging in importance as a strategic frontier in lakehouse architecture, serving as the core layer that governs how data is understood, discovered, accessed, and optimized. While<a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/emergence-and-evolution-of-metadata-management"> metadata tools</a> have long existed in different chapters of enterprise data infrastructure
we believe that a new generation of metadata tools will be greatly elevated in significance and impact:
everyone from startups to incumbents are racing to establish standards in the metadata layer
a pioneering cohort of modern open table formats has emerged to define this frontier
Large cloud and data infrastructure players also recognize metadata as a strategic priority – they are investing aggressively in new innovations
and open-sourcing key components in this layer to drive further compute adoption
Within this layer, a new generation of lakehouse-native data catalogs such as <a href="https://datastrato.ai/">Datastrato</a> (by the creators of <a href="https://gravitino.apache.org/">Gravitino</a>) and <a href="https://vakamo.com/">Vakamo</a> (by the creators of <a href="https://github.com/lakekeeper/lakekeeper">Lakekeeper</a>)
have sprouted up since data catalogs are essential in the lakehouse paradigm
or agent data access across both lakehouse and traditional architectures
Furthermore, the metadata layer is now critical for taking action and orchestration. Features like caching and data versioning are increasingly vital for AI workloads, meaning metadata management is becoming a core enabler of high-performance, efficient, AI-native data infrastructure. Solutions across open- and closed-source initiatives such as <a href="https://github.com/linkedin/openhouse">OpenHouse</a>, <a href="https://github.com/apache/amoro">Apache Amoro</a>
and Bessemer portfolio company Ryft are positioned to provide a “control plane” for enterprises to handle data management challenges effectively
Related to actionable metadata, another interesting theme we are witnessing within this layer is the emergence of new optimization tools. Optimization is not necessarily a new phenomenon within the data infrastructure landscape as enterprise customers are always mindful of cost and latency concerns across their stack. However, from <a href="http://Flarion.io">Flarion.io</a> to <a href="https://www.greybeam.ai/">Greybeam</a>
we’re now seeing teams innovate on primitives outside of the underlying storage layer – allowing organizations to make data processing in the AI era more cost-
Although known to be an “established” infrastructure category
the compute and query layer is undergoing major transformation in Data 3.0
driven by the rise of lakehouse architectures
we’ve already painted a picture of a future where there could be stronger co-existence between batch and streaming engines
This represents just one potential area of transformation
This transformation is not just about incremental improvements—it represents a fundamental rethinking of how data is processed, optimized, and queried in AI-driven environments. While <a href="https://spark.apache.org/">Spark</a> and <a href="https://www.ray.io/">Ray</a> remain the lingua franca of the AI engineering world
next generation compute frameworks that optimize for AI-first workloads are beginning to sprout from different angles
including the emergence of AI-optimized query engines
allowing engineers to handle complex failure scenarios with application-like constructs
ease of security and compliance evaluations
many enterprises are re-evaluating their technology choices on the basis of where they can receive the best LLM assistance
This has boosted the adoption of popular open source technologies that are well-understood by the LLMs since closed source technologies have less training data available and thus more difficult to get Copilot-like support
Since software is driven by AI and AI is driven by data
the assembly line model of engineering no longer makes sense in 2025
Teams will depend on agile and open tools to collaborate in this new era
As we enter a new era of unprecedented interoperability
we are excited to support founders at the forefront of innovating in this new architectural paradigm—whether it’s transforming legacy categories or pioneering new ones
we believe this evolution represents one of the most compelling investment opportunities in enterprise infrastructure today
We’ve spent over a decade partnering with category-defining data and AI infrastructure companies—including <a href="https://auth0.com/">Auth0</a>, <a href="https://www.hashicorp.com/en">HashiCorp</a>, <a href="https://imply.io/">Imply</a>, <a href="https://www.twilio.com/en-us">Twilio</a>, and <a href="https://zapier.com/">Zapier</a>—so we recognize the unique challenges and opportunities data infrastructure founders face in building foundational technology
We are proud to support the next generation of data infrastructure startups with:
We’re eager to partner with and support the next generation of data infrastructure leaders; please reach out to Janelle Teng and Lauri Moore for further discussion
Special thanks to Solmaz Shahalizadeh (BVP Operating Advisor &amp; Former Head of Data at Shopify)
Will Gaviria Rojas (Co-founder &amp; Field CTO of Coactive AI)
Yossi Reitblat (Co-founder and CEO of Ryft)
and Wes McKinney (Co-Founder of Voltron Data &amp; Principal Architect at Posit) for their feedback
Let’s be real – the idea that educators are “tech-phobic” or “stuck in the past” is as outdated as dial-up internet
Teachers are embracing AI faster than we can say “ChatGPT." For years
legacy education tech—like basic SaaS platforms—tried to make waves but mostly flopped
but they didn’t fundamentally transform the classroom or make it any easier for teachers to do what they do best: teach
it’s no wonder these tools never really caught fire among educators
Enter <a href="http://www.briskteaching.com">Brisk</a>––the AI-powered platform that’s revolutionizing K-12 education and giving teachers back their most precious resource: time
Brisk effortlessly integrates into educators’ existing workflows
helping them cut down on fragmented tasks like grading
a teacher can use their Brisk extension to instantly draft personalized responses for student essays
each one customized to the appropriate grading rubric and skill level
That’s 10 extra hours to focus on what truly matters—their students
Brisk is tackling one of the biggest challenges in education technology: fragmentation
By integrating seamlessly with the tools teachers already use—from Google Docs to PDFs to YouTube—Brisk creates a unified
AI-powered workflow that reduces complexity instead of adding to it
And in an age where data privacy matters more than ever
Brisk has earned recognition from organizations like the Student Privacy Pledge and Common Sense Media for its unwavering commitment to protecting both student and educator data
Brisk has grown to serve over one million educators across 100 countries and partnered with more than 2,000 schools and districts
At the helm of this exciting growth is Brisk's founder, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/armanjaffer/">Arman Jaffer</a>
whose deep empathy and understanding of educators' needs have shaped every aspect of Brisk’s development
This “educator-first” mindset has driven the platform’s success and earned it a loyal following among teachers
The future of education is undoubtedly AI-driven
but here’s the twist: AI in education isn’t here to replace human relationships
AI will amplify the human connection at the heart of every transformative classroom experience
This investment will accelerate their evolution from a suite of AI-powered tools into a full-fledged classroom agent
leveraging its position in the browser to support educators in driving personalized
And this vision goes far beyond just workflow automation—Brisk is building an AI-native education tech stack that could fundamentally reshape how we think about teaching and learning
Teachers are some of the most dedicated professionals out there
Many of us can remember that teacher who spent hours every night writing paragraphs of feedback on our essays
and then went above and beyond to reward us for doing well (some even baked treats for us when we really needed them!) While educators like these are absolute legends
they shouldn’t be spending their after-school hours perpetually bogged down by tasks
That’s where Brisk comes in—to give these world-class educators more time to do what they do best: teach and connect with students
We’re proud to lead Brisk’s $15 million Series A round and partner with them on this exciting journey to support every educator who has ever wielded purple ink
and gone the extra mile to drive student outcomes
Want to learn more about Brisk Teaching or try the platform? Visit <a href="https://www.briskteaching.com/?r=0">www.briskteaching.com</a>
He will be paid $185,000 to lead the district under state intervention
Turner began his career in education in 1995 as a substitute teacher at Fairfield High School
He most recently spent the last decade as principal at Pinson Valley High in Jefferson County
This will be his first superintendent role
Watch Turner&#x27;s full one-on-one interview will Megan Scarano <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gVvnIAZTM" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gVvnIAZTM" class="themeColorForLinks">here. </a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gVvnIAZTM" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gVvnIAZTM" class="themeColorForLinks"></a>
Below is a copy of Turner&#x27;s contract with Bessemer City Schools
The next Board of Education meeting is set for April 15th
The AI landscape is evolving at a relentless speed—like an escalating game of 3D chess. <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-7-sonnet">Take Anthropic’s latest breakthrough: Claude 3.7</a>
delivering both lightning-fast responses and deep
representing one of the most compelling examples of Agentic AI yet
These innovations cement Anthropic’s position at the forefront of AI
bridging practical problem-solving with cutting-edge technology
And in this high-stakes industry chess match
That’s why we’re proud to back Anthropic again as part of their latest $3.5 billion financing
Bessemer Venture Partners is <a href="https://www.bvp.com/news/why-we-invested-in-anthropic">doubling down</a> on our investment in Anthropic because we are convinced that winning in AI requires more than engineering efficiency—it demands best-in-class talent
massive hyperscaler capacity and distribution
1. Enterprise AI is at an inflection point: In 2023, the initial wave of AI adoption focused on consumer applications and proof-of-concepts. But in 2025, enterprises are moving from experimentation to production deployment. This shift demands more than just raw model performance—it requires <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-ai-infrastructure">robust infrastructure</a>
Anthropic demonstrates this enterprise-first approach
combining state-of-the-art capabilities with the features businesses need to deploy AI safely and effectively
2. Developers are the key to platform dominance: Anthropic's commanding lead in <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud-2024#Trend-2-AI-turning-all-of-us-into-10X-developers">code generation and software development capabilities</a> represents a critical strategic advantage
Just as previous technology platform shifts like virtualization
and mobile were driven by developer adoption
AI's enterprise penetration has been led by its ability to enhance developer productivity through best-in-class models
Claude's superior performance in coding tasks
combined with its deep understanding of software architecture and best practices
has made it the preferred choice for developers worldwide
This developer-first approach isn't just about feature sets—it's about building a sustainable competitive advantage in what has historically been the most important early adopter user persona and use case in the enterprise
What makes this particularly powerful is the closed-loop nature of software development: unlike more subjective AI applications like content creation or writing
objective feedback loop enables rapid iteration and improvement (via reinforcement learning)
allowing Anthropic to build upon its existing significant lead in the coding use case while accelerating the path to enterprise-wide adoption
All of these activities are underscored by Anthropic’s continued commitment to research on mechanistic interpretability and alignment
Recent AI efficiency developments are significant but represent just one aspect of this historic technical paradigm. The actual <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/ais-race-to-value-a-conversation-with-abridge-anthropic-perplexity-and-scale-ai">AI race to value</a> isn't just about training costs—it's also about building AI systems that enterprises can trust
Anthropic's comprehensive approach to this challenge
combining cutting-edge research with practical enterprise needs
Dario and Daniela Amodei have cultivated an impressive concentration of AI talent at Anthropic and assembled a team that comprehends the immense potential and significant responsibilities of developing cutting-edge AI systems
The co-founders’ experience at OpenAI and the exceptional team they've assembled provide them with a distinct advantage in safely and successfully developing AI at scale
This new influx of funding will accelerate Anthropic's research into more capable and safer AI systems
and strengthen its position as a trusted partner for businesses navigating the AI revolution
As the market matures and enterprises demand more sophisticated and trusted AI solutions
Anthropic's comprehensive approach will prove increasingly valuable
The team’s multi-faceted vision to invest in improving underlying models
and building upon their research in interpretability and alignment is incredibly compelling
As these all come together in the not-too-distant future
we anticipate that Anthropic will eventually provide virtual AI collaborators to knowledge workers and Enterprise customers of every shape and size
This isn't just incremental progress; it's a fundamental rethinking of how AI can serve human potential across every industry
The next chapter of AI will be written by companies that can balance innovation with responsibility
technical excellence with practical deployment
and rapid progress with careful consideration of consequences
Anthropic possesses all these qualities—and more importantly
it has a team capable of executing this vision at scale
If you're building AI infrastructure or the AI applications running on top of them, contact someone on our team. Learn more about our AI investment thesis and view our latest AI and <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-ai-infrastructure">data infrastructure market map.</a>
Learn more about our journey with Anthropic:
Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInBESSEMER, Ala. (<a href="http://www.wbrc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WBRC</a>) - One person is dead after a house fire early Tuesday morning in Bessemer
Family members of the victim have confirmed him to be 70-year-old Glover Mayweather
the call came in for a house fire in the 1500 block of 12th Avenue North at 12:15 a.m
they say the home was fully engulfed in flames
Glover was said to be in an upper level of the home
was able to escape through a window with only minor injuries
She was transported to UAB Hospital to be evaluated and treated
There is currently no word on the cause of the fire as officials continue to investigate
Affordable fashion retailer <a href="https://www.rainbowshops.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rainbow Shops</a> is opening a new store in Bessemer
The popular chain will move into the Academy Shopping Center at 726 Academy Drive
Harbert Retail’s Casey Howard and Lacey Scott represented the landlord in a deal
the shopping center—located near I-20 exit 108 along Academy Drive—is 100% leased.&nbsp;
This will be the 7th Rainbow location in the Birmingham Metro area
Several new businesses and developments have opened in Marvel City over the past year
Stay up to date on exciting local news like this by following Bham Now on&nbsp;<a href="http://instagram.com/bhamnow" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/bhamnow" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://bhamnow.com/newsletter-signup/">signing up for our FREE newsletter</a>.&nbsp;
 Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South
 Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years
 Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program
preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards
All content on this site is Copyright ©  Rushing Waters Media LLC/Bham Now 2016-2025
<a href="#page_top">2025 Healthcare and Life Sciences Predictions</a>
<a href="#1-Trump’s-support-for-ICHRAs-may-strengthen-the-Obamacare-exchanges-he-previously-tried-to-eliminate">1. Trump’s support for ICHRAs may strengthen the Obamacare exchanges he previously tried to eliminate</a>
<a href="#2-Medicaid-is-likely-to-face-scrutiny-but-opportunity-may-lie-ahead-for-more-value-based-care">2. Medicaid is likely to face scrutiny, but opportunity may lie ahead for more value-based care</a>
<a href="#3-New-drug-modalities-will-treat-the-masses–literally-and-figuratively">3. New drug modalities will treat the masses–literally and figuratively</a>
<a href="#4-Multiple-de-novo-protein-therapeutics-will-be-tested-in-humans-in-2025">4. Multiple de novo protein therapeutics will be tested in humans in 2025</a>
<a href="#5-At-risk-of-unions’-disapproval-the-AI-conversation-will-shift-in-focus-toward-happier-jobs-and-workforce-multiplier-capabilities">5. At risk of unions’ disapproval, the AI conversation will shift in focus toward happier jobs and workforce multiplier capabilities</a>
<a href="#6-Healthcare-systems-will-scale-new-infrastructure-to-end-the-obesity-epidemic-and-sustain-mass-adoption-of-GLP-1s">6. Healthcare systems will scale new infrastructure to end the obesity epidemic and sustain mass adoption of GLP-1s </a>
<a href="#7-U-S-healthcare-will-develop-a-net-new-workforce-model-to-address-the-silver-tsunami">7. U.S. healthcare will develop a net new workforce model to address the silver tsunami </a>
<a href="#8-Healthcare-organizations-will-shift-from-piloting-new-tech-to-meeting-real-demands-for-ROI-in-AI">8. Healthcare organizations will shift from piloting new tech to meeting real demands for ROI in AI </a>
<a href="#9-Foundation-model-providers-will-launch-healthcare-and-life-sciences-specific-products">9. Foundation model providers will launch healthcare and life sciences-specific products </a>
<a href="#10-Multimodal-clinical-AI-will-revolutionize-measurement-in-medicine-but-payment-models-lag-behind">10. Multimodal clinical AI will revolutionize measurement in medicine, but payment models lag behind </a>
The health tech sector demonstrated remarkable <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-health-tech-2024">resilience in 2024</a>. Even in a challenging macroeconomic environment, <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-healthcare-ai">healthcare AI companies</a> showed particular strength
with successful implementations across clinical
and research domains fundamentally reshaping care delivery and management
This evolution has moved well beyond the initial excitement phase
with organizations now focused on scalable
enterprise-wide deployments that deliver measurable value
we anticipate several forces converging to make this year an especially promising one for healthcare innovation
Advances in AI capabilities are coinciding with mounting pressure to address fundamental challenges in healthcare delivery and access
therapeutic breakthroughs and novel care delivery models are creating opportunities for transformative change
The companies best positioned to succeed will be those that can harness these technological capabilities while building sustainable businesses that deliver clear value to patients
In this year’s healthcare and life sciences predictions
we share what we’re hearing and anticipating to shape the sector in the coming months
Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) were created under the first Trump administration
allowing employers to provide tax-free allowances for employees to purchase individual health insurance
view ICHRAs favorably because they are market-based and give employees more choice
the influx of employees from group coverage to individual plans is expected to reduce the average age of ACA market participants
helping to stabilize the market via improved risk pool health and potentially lower premium costs
There is plenty of<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/health/medicaid-cuts-republican-congress.html"> speculation of how a Republican-led government will change Medicaid</a>
Surely many of these policies would weaken the Medicaid program
potentially leading to a decrease in the number of Americans who can access healthcare
we see a potential silver lining: acceleration of value-based care (VBC) adoption
The next decade will witness a paradigm shift in the focus of novel drug modalities—such as gene therapies
and protein degraders—from rare diseases to large-scale chronic conditions to treat the masses (yes
either as a pivot or a complementary expansion
This transition will be driven by advancements in technology
and the continued evolution of drug development
the development of CRISPR gene editing in 2012 along with other new drug approaches ignited a similar wave of enthusiasm
We predict we’re entering a decade-long shift towards genetic medicine and other novel modalities expanding scope to large
chronic conditions as a mainstay of drug development and personalized medicine
There are three key drivers behind this shift:
In 2025, multiple de novo protein therapeutics designed entirely by AI will likely enter human clinical trials. While there have <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107634">already been over 70 drugs leveraging AI that have entered clinical trials</a>
we’d argue that the majority of these have used AI to modify or optimize existing drug structures or sequences
rather than generating a completely de novo therapeutic with an AI approach to design drugs from the ground up without a starting point
Generative models like <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-022-01618-2">ProGen</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06415-8">RFdiffusion</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-024-02437-w">SCUBA-diffusion</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06728-8">Chroma </a>and others are turning the traditional therapeutic development approach on its head
aiming to design completely synthetic proteins with drug-like properties to perform a desired function in treating disease
 While it is still early days for de novo drug design
we are optimistic about this approach’s longer-term potential because we believe that value will accrue most significantly to the AI-native biotechs that leverage these tools to create blockbuster therapeutics
the rapid iteration in this field we are seeing gives us hope that generative AI could rapidly advance drug programs through preclinical and regulatory hurdles
a zero-shot design cycle offers the potential to witness completely generative therapeutics obtain investigational new drug (IND) clearance
This milestone will mark a convergence of advances in AI
with the initial focus on a narrowly defined
Healthcare's AI conversation needs a fundamental shift in 2025 to deliver true transformation
Two forces are driving this imperative: growing influence from unions and worker advocacy groups concerned about job automation
and an increasingly strained workforce facing critical supply shortages
Rather than focusing on automating jobs away
successful AI adoption will focus on empowering healthcare workers—both frontline and back-office staff—with "superpowers" that have new skill requirements and enhance their capabilities and efficiency
Having humans in the loop is about more than just productivity gains—it’s the new way forward for life-saving healthcare
Human oversight is required to fulfill the promise of high-stakes
AI-enabled pathology interpretations and surgical decisions
By reframing AI's role as a tool for scaling the limited supply of healthcare practitioners
organizations can foster new behaviors and workflows that allow everyone to operate at the top of their license
This includes not only doctors and nurses but also administrative staff who play critical roles in patient care delivery
The key to this transformation lies in collaboration and trust that prioritizes worker empowerment
This shift will redefine the narrative around AI
transforming it from a perceived threat to a critical enabler of a more effective and sustainable healthcare system
bending the curve and sparking optimism for long-term public health
mass GLP-1 adoption also introduces secondary and tertiary effects that the industry must anticipate and address
we predict healthcare systems will invest in new infrastructure across four key areas: 
healthcare caregiver system will face an unprecedented strain as the boomer generation continues to age into Medicare
This silver tsunami will far outpace the available workforce
with the ratio of workers to Medicare beneficiaries reaching a critical breaking point
will feel the additional weight of caregiving demands
compounded by potential disruptions from immigration policy shifts and mass deportations from the new administration
we expect four key innovations to emerge in 2025:
these efforts will not only bolster the caregiving workforce but also transform it into a sustainable
innovative sector capable of meeting the needs of an aging nation
Following an intense year of AI enthusiasm in 2024
healthcare organizations in 2025 will reach a critical juncture in their battle with "pilotitis": the persistent cycle of piloting new technologies without achieving widespread adoption
As organizations face mounting pressure to demonstrate returns on their AI investments
vendor procurement will become dramatically more selective
Rather than continuing with isolated proof-of-concept projects, organizations will prioritize scalable, enterprise-wide platform deployments backed by a maturing ecosystem of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03328-5">benchmarks</a> and <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2813425">assurance frameworks</a>
New AI vendors will face heightened scrutiny
with organizations demanding robust evidence of potential ROI before signing contracts
Evaluation frameworks will evolve beyond simple accuracy metrics to encompass workflow integration costs
and measurable improvements in patient outcomes
While healthcare enterprises will continue prioritizing solutions that generate first-year revenue and immediate cost savings, we anticipate growing demand for <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-healthcare-ai">clinical AI applications</a>
where there is significant work to be done across regulatory
which help developers build healthcare AI applications starting with chest X-rays
This expansion raises intriguing strategic questions
Will these companies leverage their formidable consumer brands to venture into direct healthcare services like symptom checkers and AI medical consultations
Or will they focus on deepening their relationships with existing enterprise customers in the healthcare sector
The life sciences landscape presents its own challenges
particularly in the protein language model space
With several well-funded competitors already commanding significant leads
new entrants will need to carve out distinctive applications or innovative business models to generate meaningful value
Yet perhaps the most fascinating aspect is watching these foundation model companies bet on specialized biomedical models
even as debates continue about their advantages over general-purpose alternatives
2025 is the year multimodal AI in healthcare faces its commercial reality check
But healthcare's traditional payment structures haven't caught up
The gap between technical capability and commercial viability will continue to widen
Multimodal AI is now tackling healthcare's most complex challenges: interpreting haploinsufficient and polygenic conditions
But clinical deployment requires more than technical excellence
It demands careful integration into physician workflows
clear protocols for clinical decision support
The initial wins for multimodal healthcare AI will come from operational applications
where ROI calculations and workflow integration are more straightforward
The transformative potential of diagnostic AI
remains constrained by reimbursement complexities
implementation barriers create a maze of restrictions that limit scalability
The vision of the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21452449/">learning health system</a>—where every patient interaction advances medical knowledge—is within reach technically with multimodal AI
While operational use cases will lead adoption
clinical AI represents our greatest opportunity to fundamentally reimagine healthcare
Getting the business models right is essential to unlock this potential
— A new Aldi grocery store opened its doors Thursday at 2910 Morgan Road in Bessemer
The new store received a warm welcome from many people living in the area
&quot;I&#x27;m glad that something has opened up since Winn-Dixie closed,&quot; said Connie Rockett
&quot;Having a new store opening up is going to be good for me because it&#x27;s near the neighborhood that I live in here.&quot;
urging Aldi to improve conditions for animals before they are slaughtered
The advocacy group claims that Aldi continues to use cages for mother pigs and hens in its supply chain
The advocacy organization says other companies are abandoning that practice to create a more humane process for the animals
said they are seeking transparency from the company
we are trying to have the animals moved from cages to group housing
That&#x27;s all we&#x27;re asking for,&quot; Sequeira said
These protests are expected to continue at Aldi locations across the country
A representative from the Aldi location in Bessemer declined to comment on the protests
The city of Bessemer has seen two homicides within the first three days of the new year
&quot;We don&#x27;t want our city defined this way,&quot; said Kenneth Gulley
Bessemer&#x27;s first homicide of 2025 happened on New Year&#x27;s Day
The city&#x27;s second homicide of the new year happened 48 hours later
was shot and killed in a house as unknown suspects drove by shooting
&quot;When it comes to innocent children it kind of hits you a little harder you know a lot of times when it comes to any loss of life due to gun violence it is sad but when start talking about innocent children that takes it to a different level,&quot; said Gulley
The city of Bessemer ended 2024 with 11 homicides in the city
Bessemer police chief Michael Wood said to stop the gun violence it is going to take someone willing to break the cycle
turn the information over to police and let them handle it
62-year-old Tracie Marks Jones was identified as the suspect in the murder of Elijah Mack jr
She has been charged with murder and is being held at the Jefferson County jail without bond
No one has been taken into custody in the murder of 13-year-old Allen Thomas
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bessemer Police Department at (205) 425-2411 or the tip line at (205) 428-3541
<a href="#page_top">Part III: Business model invention in the AI era </a>
<a href="#AI-enabled-services">AI-enabled services</a>
<a href="#Early-pricing-model-examples-of-emergent-Vertical-AI-leaders">Early pricing model examples of emergent Vertical AI leaders </a>
<a href="#Up-next-Our-investment-framework-and-founder-advice">Up next: Our investment framework and founder advice</a>
Much like cloud computing transformed vertical industries over the past two decades
the human-like capabilities of LLMs — processing text
and code — are making it possible for Vertical AI to achieve what was previously unimaginable for sectors of the economy that only benefitted marginally from previous waves of software innovation
Vertical AI companies aren’t just streamlining workflows; they’re taking on vast
language-heavy tasks that dominate industries like legal
and professional services — sectors representing a 10x larger TAM than the software market itself
but the efficacy and future success of Vertical AI hinges on the strength of its business models
Delivering your product in the right format for your specific vertical alongside a pricing model that captures the value you’re creating for customers is critical for the short and long-term viability of your business
In this installment of our Vertical AI Roadmap
we dive into three new business models defining the AI era — Copilots
and AI-enabled Services — and explore the innovative use cases and functions vertical AI companies are addressing today
The first incarnation of AI-native business models that we saw emerge were copilots
Copilots are AI applications that sit side-by-side with users as they go through workflows
AI copilots supercharge employee productivity while keeping the human user in the center of the workflow
Because copilots aim to increase individual employees’ efficiency and efficacy
copilots are generally priced like traditional cloud software on a per-seat basis tied to the company’s headcount
This pricing model has already shown real momentum with public companies like Microsoft
and Salesforce which have all been able to benefit from healthy price increases of their core products by offering copilot add-ons
Microsoft’s Office365 generally costs $15 to $30 per license
but getting access to their copilot product costs an additional $30
doubling or even tripling the price per seat
Voice: As we discuss in <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/part-ii-multimodal-capabilities-unlock-new-opportunities-in-vertical-ai">part two of this series</a>
ongoing progress is being made on core components of the conversational voice stack
Advancements in speech-to-text models (automatic voice recognition)
have supported a new generation of voice-based copilots addressing transcription use cases
such as analytics or preparing and even helping users complete the next steps in a workflow
Abridge is a company at the forefront of innovation in voice AI for clinical use cases
Its copilot product for healthcare providers transcribes
and summarizes doctor-patient conversations
Abridge’s speech recognition technology can automatically detect the doctor’s specialty and the language spoken by the patient (across 28 languages)
and translate in real-time to draft the clinical documentation in English
Image: There are also AI copilots that generate images to streamline design processes in a variety of industries but are particularly becoming more prevalent in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. <a href="https://www.workpack.ai/">Workpack AI</a> and <a href="https://www.togal.ai/">Togal AI </a>are visual copilots for estimators in the preconstruction process that automatically perceive
While copilots help employees do their work, AI agents fully automate workflows for specific functions with minimal human intervention required. In this way, agents are decoupling software and productivity from human headcount and transforming what businesses can achieve. Agent solutions are not only being built by vertical AI startups; incumbents are diving in headfirst, with Salesforce launching <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/agentforce/">Agentforce</a>
their employee and customer-facing support platform
Pricing strategy for agents is still developing
Given that agents can substitute future incremental headcount and allow existing employees to work on higher value tasks
many are priced based on the solution’s output relative to human workers
and agent ROI is framed in terms of the money saved on expanding headcount
Software sales: <a href="https://relevanceai.com/">Relevance AI</a>’s sales development representative (SDR) agent
Recruiting: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/29/linkedin-launches-its-first-ai-agent-to-take-on-the-role-of-job-recruiters/?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIqeXMcUeG-5YTWVdMIozLxP85zSVVhZm5QaRaAXhb_DywHJzC6TAyQ4rdqTQdqNW3wwSlzNF1r6paQAsw7wLaXhi8PDWLZVlDR3v9E2CddblDYBVTnV-PqkiNG8r9Mhsff1hPOPtmrzentbV2Prn-yaPgr10_hizzlG5VVKueGa&amp;guccounter=2">LinkedIn recently announced </a>the launch of its first AI agent Hiring Assistant
which takes on certain workflows typically done by recruiters
turning notes into drafts of job descriptions
Customer support:<a href="https://slang.ai/"> Slang</a>’s voice AI fields phone calls for restaurants, answering simple questions, making reservations, and connecting customers to employees as needed. Similarly, <a href="https://www.assorthealth.com/">Assort Health</a>’s AI agent call center for healthcare schedules patients appointments
Back office functions:<a href="https://www.tennr.com/resource"> Tennr</a> automates document and referral processing
and other manual workflows related to healthcare administration
AI-enabled services companies have the potential to deliver cheaper
and more consistent services to the market and take share from incumbent services companies
Pricing for these services generally anchors to existing legacy service provider pricing
automation allows AI companies to undercut existing providers and still retain higher margins
EvenUp charges per demand letters generated
which is less than the hourly pay required for an in-house paralegal to complete this work (and as a result
 frees up paralegals to complete higher-value tasks
Legal services:<a href="https://www.evenuplaw.com/"> EvenUp</a> automatically builds demand packages for injury lawyers
allowing them to settle cases faster and more economically
and to sometimes win higher settlements than when all aspects of the workflow are done manually
Medical billing:<a href="https://www.smarterdx.com/"> SmarterDx</a> automates clinical documentation integrity (CDI) specialist work in hospital inpatient departments
analyzing 100% of the data contained in every patient chart to capture revenue that might otherwise be lost
Third-party insurance administration (TPAs):<a href="https://www.reserv.com/"> Reserv</a> automates the insurance claim process and delivers better data and insights to carriers
Reserve is able to compete with and often replace legacy TPAs like Sedgwick and Crawford by delivering superior service through the use of generative AI in addition to talent
Among many breakout Vertical AI businesses
we’re seeing AI founders fully embrace usage and output-based pricing to align value capture with value creation
This approach of tying pricing to specific outcomes delivered means an easily quantifiable ROI for customers that can be benchmarked to their existing spend
vertical AI companies are often either putting this output into tiers or adding a base subscription fee to ensure a predictable baseline spend from each customer
This means that vertical AI companies can benefit from the predictability of subscription fees or tiered pricing while also capturing the upside of expanded use—a hybrid pricing represents an attractive model of value capture for vertical AI
AI-powered translation company that provides highly accurate and nuanced language translation services for businesses and individuals
AI-driven legal technology company that transforms the personal injury claims process by automating the creation of demand packages
AI customer communication platform that launched an AI agent that handles frontline customer support autonomously
FinAI copilot with 10 free tickets per agent
A customer service and engagement platform that helps businesses build better relationships with their customers
While frameworks and strategies developed for horizontal AI and vertical software companies still have some utility for Vertical AI
we’re also seeing a significant (and growing) number of unique opportunities
and trends that founders will need to understand and contend with in order to build innovative and valuable vertical AI products and services
and maintain defensibly in the face of competition from new AI upstarts as well as AI features from vertical incumbents who aren’t asleep at the wheel
we’ll share our initial investment framework and founder advice focused on four core pillars of vertical AI products and businesses: functional value
Bessemer Venture Partners has been fortunate to partner with legendary vertical software companies like Shopify, Procore, Toast, ServiceTitan, and MindBody — we think the next generation of vertical AI presents an even bigger opportunity. If you are working on a Vertical AI application, we would love to hear from you! Please reach out to our team at <a href="mailto:VerticalAI@bvp.com">VerticalAI@bvp.com</a>
(WBMA) — The Bessemer Police Department is investigating a homicide that occurred Friday night in the 1200 block of 13th Street North
officers responded to a call of a 13-year-old male shot just before 10 pm
The Jefferson County Coroner has identified the boy as Allen J
When officers and medical personnel arrived
Thomas was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead
Bessemer Police preliminary investigation shows that Thomas was inside a residence and unknown suspects shot into the residence
It is not clear if Bessemer PD has any leads at this time
SEE ALSO:<a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/24-year-old-woman-injured-in-center-point-shooting" target="_blank" title="https://abc3340.com/news/local/24-year-old-woman-injured-in-center-point-shooting" class="themeColorForLinks"> 24-year-old woman injured in Center Point shooting</a>
SEE ALSO: <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/birmingham-police-ask-for-help-finding-person-of-interest-in-missing-person-case-gerard-johns-tony-anderson#" target="_blank" title="https://abc3340.com/news/local/birmingham-police-ask-for-help-finding-person-of-interest-in-missing-person-case-gerard-johns-tony-anderson#" class="themeColorForLinks">Birmingham police ask for help finding person of interest in missing person case</a>
Updates will be added when they become available
(WBMA) —  A man suspected of shooting at individuals on Birmingham&#x27;s east side was apprehended Tuesday after a coordinated effort by multiple law enforcement agencies
The Bessemer Police Department said  Demario Ladell Keith faces multiple charges including drug trafficking
possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
The police department said it received a public service announcement from Birmingham PD regarding social media posts about a man in a black Nissan Maxima allegedly involved in the shootings
detectives with the Birmingham PD spotted the suspected vehicle in a Bessemer Walmart parking lot
The detective requested help from the Bessemer PD and Jefferson County authorities
The driver then abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot
A perimeter was set up with the help of Bessemer PD
the Jefferson County Sheriff&#x27;s Office
Birmingham PD described the shootings as road rage related
&quot;Our success in apprehending this dangerous individual was the result of dedicated teamwork between law enforcement agencies,&quot; said a spokesperson for the Bessemer Police Department
&quot;This should serve as a reminder that when agencies come together
we can bring violent offenders to justice and make our communities safer.&quot;
The Bessemer Police Department is urging anyone with information related to this incident to assist with the investigation
Individuals can contact the Criminal Investigations Division at (205) 481-4366 or the main number at (205) 425-2411
Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the tip line at (205) 428-3541
AL (WBMA) — The Birmingham Police is investigating a fatal crash that occurred Friday night around 8 p.m
The Jefferson County Coroner says 33-year-old Kendrick Lawayne Robinson of Marion Ohio and 38-year-old Michael Anthony Walker of Birmingham both died after the Chevrolet Trailblazer they were in hit a tree
The Birmingham Police Department is investigating the crash
Voice AI isn’t just an upgrade to software’s UI
It’s transforming how businesses and customers connect
Despite telephony being an over 150 year-old technology
voice still remains the dominant mode of communication for most businesses
businesses rely on phone-based communication to convey nuanced information more effectively
provide more personalized support or services
We’re in the midst of a Cambrian explosion of voice AI infrastructure that has driven our conviction in <a href="https://www.bvp.com/atlas/roadmap-voice-ai">the market opportunity</a> in this space
Developers are in a better position than ever to integrate AI voice capabilities into their products and services to help eliminate long wait times
and scale voice agents infinitely to meet spikes in customer demand any time of day or night
and managing conversational voice agents at scale is a substantial challenge
This is why we’re thrilled to lead Vapi’s $20 million Series A financing
Vapi is building the leading developer platform for conversational voice agents
abstracting away the complexity of building these agents and managing real-time infrastructure
and making it easy for anyone to deploy human-level voice experiences
Vapi provides a 10x improvement on the development experience for voice agents
Its elegant platform solves the hard engineering problems required to manage real-time voice infrastructure and build enterprise-grade voice agents
including the orchestration of third-party speech-to-text (STT) models
Vapi’s architecture is carefully designed to help developers create agents that sound lifelike without sacrificing the control and determinism that enterprise customers demand
From its proprietary real-time audio model that can discern speakers’ emotional inflections
This level of detail stands out because it addresses a core enterprise AI problem: AI models are probabilistic in nature
yet highly regulated industries—think financial services
and insurance—require deterministic output
Vapi solves this conundrum by breaking conversational flows into digestible
Our conviction to lead Vapi’s Series A came especially from our strong belief in its team
customer obsession and product velocity matter far more today than ever before
We’ve been impressed by how quickly cofounders Jordan Dearsley and Nikhil Gupta have built a robust platform with a vibrant community of enthusiastic developers
The two Waterloo engineers have iterated extremely quickly—it’s not uncommon for us to hear that a feature request made on a Friday evening is in production on Saturday morning
and customers praise its ergonomic developer experience
and the rest of the Vapi team as they enable developers to dream bigger about the range of voice experiences they can power