Issue 21 · September 1, 2026
Future Frontiers · Issue 21
Why enterprise software's next platform cycle codifies the work itself, what vertical AI is actually selling, and a wave-by-wave read on where your own stack sits.
The tacit layer.
Enterprise software has moved in waves, each codifying a deeper layer of the company. The first captured transactions, the second information. The third reaches the tacit layer.
Read on the web →Vertical AI
AI built for one industry or workflow rather than for everyone. Where the moat is the integration depth, not the model.
Read the explainer →The Three Waves Diagnostic
Places a software product on the three waves of enterprise software (transactions, information, the tacit layer) and scores how hard the next wave is already pulling on it.
Download the resource →Tidbits of levity, fun, and relief from the serious work.
The knowledge worker, now augmented.
Which Wave Is Your Software Stuck In?
Pick the internal system your business most depends on. For each question, choose the line that fits it today.
1. The UI
a) Forms and fields. Users type, then click Save.
b) Forms with AI helpers bolted on: autosuggest, summarize, draft.
c) The user states an intent. The system works out the rest.
2. The data layer
a) Tables and joins. Reporting is SQL against the warehouse.
b) Tables plus a vector store, used mostly for search.
c) A semantic layer the agent reads and writes through.
3. The work
a) Humans do the work. The software records it.
b) AI assists the humans. The software records both.
c) Agents do most of it. Humans review at the boundaries.
4. The vendor’s roadmap
a) “Better dashboards, more integrations, refreshed UI in Q3.”
b) “AI features rolling out across modules next year.”
c) “Re-architecting around an agent runtime.”
Scoring
- Mostly (a). Wave 1: software of record. Built before AI was an architectural question. Plan the data exit now, not when the vendor announces its agentic SKU.
- Mostly (b). Wave 2: software with AI features. Where most enterprise stacks sit in 2026. The vendor is buying time. So are you.
- Mostly (c). Wave 3: agent-native. Rare today, ordinary in five years. The vertical-AI playbook in production.
Your own wave sets what you can do this quarter. Your vendor’s sets whether you will need to replace them.
A 2008 Pitch Deck, Re-Released
Cloudly, Inc. · Series C deck · October 2008. Re-released 2026, lightly updated.
The Problem. Enterprises are drowning in on-premise software. ✏️ 2026: Enterprises are drowning in cloud software.
Our Solution. A unified cloud platform. In the browser. No installation. ✏️ 2026: A unified agentic platform. In the prompt. No prompting required.
The Ask. $50M at $300M post. ✏️ 2026: $500M at $12B post. Still pre-revenue, but in a more interesting way.
Thank you. ✏️ 2026: Thank you. We are agentic now.