New Categories of Company in the AGI Era
The categories of business that did not exist five years ago and are becoming significant — vertical AI agents, AI-augmented services, model infrastructure, and more.
Executive summary
Entirely new categories of company are appearing each year of the AGI era. Vertical AI agents, AI-augmented services firms, model infrastructure providers, AI-native productivity tools, and AI safety services are all visible and growing categories.
Key concepts
- Vertical agents
- AI-augmented services
- Model infrastructure
- Trust and safety services
- AI-native consumer
Vertical agents
Agents specialised to a profession (legal, financial, clinical, engineering) are a growing category, combining domain expertise with AI capability.
AI-augmented services firms
Service businesses (consulting, legal, accounting, design) using AI internally to deliver more per head — sometimes restructured into product-shaped offerings.
Model infrastructure
Inference, fine-tuning, observability, evaluation, and safety tooling for businesses building on frontier models.
Trust and safety services
Red-teaming, evaluation, compliance, and safety services to other businesses deploying AI.
Key takeaways
- 01Vertical agents are a growing modal category.
- 02AI-augmented services firms are restructuring professional services.
- 03Model infrastructure is a deep technical category.
- 04Trust and safety has become its own services market.
Frequently asked questions
Where are the best opportunities?
Categories where deep domain expertise meets AI capability, and where the founder has a real distribution advantage.
Is the market crowded?
Surface-level products are crowded. Genuine domain or technical depth remains a differentiator.
Further reading
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