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AI is moving faster than security, with cyber threats poised to overwhelm defenses. Many organizations don’t realize how exposed they are.

Since the previous edition, we've reviewed hundreds of the latest agentic and gen AI best practices, case studies, and innovation insights. Here’s the top 1%...

In today’s edition:

• Accenture: Cybersecurity in an AI-driven world.

• BCG AI at Work in 2025.

• ICONIQ Capital: The AI Builder’s Playbook.

• a16z: Building lasting enterprise AI value.

• Transformation and technology in the news.

• Career opportunities & events.

Read time: 4 minutes.

MARKET & BEST PRACTICE INSIGHT

Accenture: Cybersecurity in an AI-driven world

Brief: Accenture surveyed 2,286 execs from $1B+ firms, 80% CISOs, 20% CIOs, finding that 90% are not ready to protect against AI-augmented cyber threats, and highlighting critical actions to strengthen defenses.

Breakdown:

• 63% of firms are “Exposed Zone,” lacking cohesive cybersecurity. 10% are “Reinvention Ready” — 69% less likely to face advanced attacks.

• Reinvention Ready firms build security frameworks and operating models aligned to AI risks, regulations, and clear accountability.

• They design a secure digital core for gen AI by embedding cybersecurity into development, deployment, and operations from the start.

• They maintain resilient AI systems with secure foundations that address emerging threats, enable testing, and strengthen response mechanisms.

• They leverage gen AI to automate security processes, accelerate threat detection, and strengthen enterprise-wide cyber defenses.

Why it’s important: Rising geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, and AI-augmented attacks are increasing cyber risk. Cybersecurity can’t be an afterthought. It must be embedded by design into AI initiatives to protect value, build customer trust, and enable competitive advantage.

MARKET INSIGHT

BCG AI at Work in 2025

Brief: BCG’s annual AI at Work survey, spanning 11 countries and 10,600 leaders, shows that while most leaders and managers have integrated AI into their daily work, frontline employees lag in fully embracing the technology.

Breakdown:

• Frontline workers face a "silicon ceiling," with only 51% using AI tools regularly, compared to 78% of managers and 85% of leaders.

• Simply adding AI into existing workflows isn't enough; unlocking value requires end-to-end redesign and promotion of AI tools across teams.

• With leadership support, gen AI positivity rises from 15% to 55%. Employees with 5+ hours of in-person training show higher AI usage.

• Employees exposed to comprehensive AI redesign are more concerned about job security (46%) than those at less-advanced firms (34%).

• Only 13% of employees see AI agents integrated into daily workflows, and just one-third understand how they work.

Why it’s important: The survey reveals progress in AI adoption by companies but also exposes concerns, particularly about job security. The more employees use AI, the more their concerns grow. This mirrors challenges seen in past technological transitions, notably the shift from steam to electrical power.

MARKET & BEST PRACTICE INSIGHT

ICONIQ Capital: The AI Builder’s Playbook

Brief: ICONIQ Capital, the San Francisco-based growth investor, published its 67-slide, The AI Builder’s Playbook, based on interviews and a survey of 300 software execs, spanning product build, GTM, org design, and AI cost trends.

Breakdown:

• AI-native firms are ahead of AI-enabled peers, with 47% of products reaching critical scale and proven market fit, compared to just 13%.

• While 40% of firms have no plans to adjust pricing, 37% are exploring new pricing models based on consumption, ROI, and usage tiers.

• On average, companies plan to have 20-30% of their engineering team focused on AI, with high-growth firms dedicating a larger proportion.

• Respondents cited API usage fees as the most challenging infrastructure cost to control, indicating unpredictability around variable costs.

• The report outlines the most used tools across 12 AI stack layers and trends across 8 productivity use cases, from sales to recruiting.

Why it’s important: Building and operationalizing AI products is the new frontier of competitive advantage. While last year’s report focused on the buying journey and adoption, ICONIQ’s 2025 edition shifts to how companies are designing, delivering, and scaling AI-powered products end-to-end.

AI-NATIVE INSIGHT

a16z: Building lasting enterprise AI value

Brief: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) shared how AI startups can capitalize on enterprise demand. Unlike SaaS, AI requires new strategies to break out, scale and create enduring value as traditional playbooks no longer hold true.

Breakdown:

• Flashy AI demos are relatively simple; enterprise deployment is harder. User behavior is unpredictable, and edge cases need to be handled.

• AI startups hit $5M ARR faster than SaaS ever did. Buyers now pull AI in with larger labor replacement budgets, not just augmentation.

• Token costs have dropped over 80% in the past two years. Agentic IDEs and text-to-app tools are accelerating the creation process.

• Enterprises are inundated with similar AI products. Credibility, speed, and momentum are more important than ever to break through first.

• Speed alone won’t protect against fast followers and incumbents. Become the system of record, lock in workflows, and entrench relationships.

Why it’s important: AI has become a strategic priority for virtually every enterprise. Andreessen Horowitz's emerging principles help builders unlock potential and build lasting value. The opportunity is vast for bold startups and incumbents with the courage to reinvent themselves.

BCV consulted 50+ CFOs ($360B+ collective firm value) on how AI can drive strategic finance and what foundations support long-term AI success.

McKinsey shared how AI can reignite innovation and helped Merck use gen AI to draft clinical reports, speeding up drug development.

Innovation Endeavors, an early-stage venture firm, shared a 126-slide report on foundation models, covering use cases, market dynamics, and what's next.

Rakuten achieved 7 hours of autonomous coding and cut time-to-market by 79% using Claude Code for complex refactoring and feature delivery.

IBM’s 24-slide report shows bankers view AI’s greatest impact in fraud, cybersecurity, and KYC, yet note scaling AI requires better compliance.

Gartner predicts 40%+ of agentic AI projects will be canceled by 2027 due to rising costs, unclear ROI, or inadequate risk controls.

Bain explored how gen and agentic AI could unlock selling time and drive conversions, and invested in AI-driven market researcher Outset.

Menlo Ventures State of Consumer AI 2025 report shows 61% of U.S. adults have used AI in the past six months, and nearly one in five rely on it every day.

Meta hired four OpenAI researchers for its new superintelligence team, including a key o1 model contributor and three from the Zurich office.

OpenAI is leveraging Google TPU AI chips to help power its products, marking a notable shift from reliance on Nvidia GPUs.

Anthropic launched Claude features allowing users to create, host, and share interactive AI apps from prompts via its “Artifacts” workspaces.

OpenAI released Deep Research via API, added Web Search to o3 and o4-mini, and announced its next DevDay event for Oct. 6 in San Francisco.

DeepSeek’s R2 model is reportedly underperforming due to Nvidia chip shortages from export controls, frustrating CEO Liang Wenfeng’s ambitions.

Meta won a “fair use” case brought by authors, joining a growing list of AI firms receiving favorable court rulings on copyright challenges.

OpenAI quietly designed rival to apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office, including real-time doc editing and multi-user chat.

Disney is reportedly in talks with firms like OpenAI to license IP, while escalating legal action suing Midjourney over AI-generated use.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Snowflake - Head of AI Solutions

BCG - AI Transformation Senior Director

ServiceNow - AI Vice President

EVENTS

Anthropic - Claude for Finance - July 15, 2025

Institute for AI Transformation - Leaders in AI Summit - July 29-30, 2025

UC Berkeley - Agentic AI Summit 2025 - August 2, 2025

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