The a16z Show – “Big Ideas 2026: The Enterprise Orchestration Layer”
December 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on one of a16z’s top “Big Ideas” for 2026: the rise of AI as an enterprise orchestration layer. Rather than being relegated to isolated tools, AI is emerging as a coordinated system of agents that can plan, analyze, and execute work across departments and software. Four a16z partners—Seema Amble, Angela Strange, Alex Immerman, and David Haberer—share perspectives on the operational, industry, product, and commercial implications of this shift for large organizations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Operational Shift: From Experimentation to AI Teams (Seema Amble, 01:29–05:53)

• AI as a New Orchestration Layer in the enterprise, especially within the Fortune 500.
• The shift will require extracting tacit knowledge from documents, processes, and people’s heads to create a “context layer.” This involves leveraging onboarding materials, written instructions, and capturing actual human behavior (e.g., browser actions or phone calls).
• Inter-agent Collaboration:
  • Currently, AI tools and human workers operate autonomously and are incentivized by siloed efficiency metrics.
  • In a coordinated system, context and feedback flow between agents—sales, support, etc.—enabling holistic optimization for business outcomes.
• Risk of “Multi-Agent Cascade of Failures”: Recognized as possible, similar to multi-human failures today. Human oversight (“humans in the loop”) and agent-specific audits/KPIs will remain essential safeguards.
• Big Opportunity for Fortune 500:
  • These organizations have the most siloed, distributed data and complex processes, often due to growth by acquisition.
  • AI orchestration unlocks faster implementations (ERP, procurement agents) and smoother, cross-geography operations by capturing and sharing operational context.
• Quote:
  • “What I'm most excited about is this ability to pull things out of people's heads and then suddenly unlock the real power of agents.” — Seema Amble (05:26)

2. Industry Turning Point: Financial Services & Insurance (Angela Strange, 06:14–11:12)

• Dramatic Turning Point for FSIs: The risk of not replacing legacy systems now outpaces the risk of change.
• Unified Data & Parallel Workflows:
  • Next-gen platforms consolidate data from legacy cores, external sources, and unstructured files, enabling parallelization of complex workflows (e.g., mortgage underwriting).
• Expanded Categories:
  • Data from onboarding, KYC, transaction monitoring, and customer behavior can consolidate into unified risk platforms—breaking down silos and improving fraud/compliance.
• Bigger Opportunities for Builders:
  • The winners will be “10x bigger” as AI can consume labor previously unaddressed—and margins soar.
  • Early adopters among incumbents are already seeing transformed businesses (e.g., mortgage servicers improving profit margins from 5% to 50%).
• Why Now?
  • Mainframes are nearing breaking point.
  • Leaving money on the table by missing AI-driven demand.
  • Viable new platforms rearchitected for AI, built by founders with deep domain experience.
• Quote:
  • "It's not AI that's the competition, it's your competitors using AI." — Angela Strange (08:09)
  • “The best banks, the best insurance companies will fix their plumbing and enable them to take full advantage and be the most competitive going into the next decade.” — Angela Strange (08:25)

3. Product Evolution: AI in Multiplayer Mode (Alex Immerman, 11:41–17:01)

• Vertical AI in “Multiplayer Mode”:
  • Before AI, vertical software (Shopify, Toast, etc.) already offered deep integrations for niche users.
  • Vertical AI is evolving rapidly—faster than historic SaaS—with agents now able to perform complex, specialized reasoning.
  • New obstacle: complex work requires collaboration between multiple humans and agents.
• Multiplayer Collaboration:
  • 2026 will see platforms evolving to orchestrate multi-agent, multi-human workflows—raising value and switching costs.
• Building Trust & Command Center UX:
  • Platforms must set explicit trust rules: which actions can agents take, when should they escalate to human review.
  • Example: In M&A, agents can pre-negotiate within user-set price parameters, but escalate issues lacking context to humans.
  • Future software is less chat, more “command center”—users review, not just do.
• Defensibility:
  • Attributes of defensible platforms: strong brand in verticals, proprietary tech/IP, and network effects (the more agents/humans join, the higher the switching cost).
• Quote:
  • “2026 is when multiplayer mode comes into gear.” — Alex Immerman (00:00, 16:08)
  • “Work becomes less about doing and more about reviewing.” — Alex Immerman (16:57)

4. Commercial Lens: AI That Reinforces the Business Model (David Haberer, 17:29–20:36)

• Beyond Cost Reduction:
  • The most commercially viable AI systems don’t just cut costs, they reinforce and drive revenue models.
• Case Studies:
  • Eve (Plaintiff Law): AI enables more cases taken on, increasing lawyers’ revenue (not eroding billable hours).
  • Salient (Loan Servicing): Voice agents handle multilingual, compliant engagements—improving collections (better outcomes, not just lower costs).
• Defensible AI Platforms:
  • Embed themselves deeply in customer workflows and generate proprietary, outcomes-based data (a unique data asset other companies can't easily access or train on).
  • Outcomes data can be fed back into intake models, increasing predictive power and platform value.
• Quote:
  • "In instances where AI is actually reinforcing the business model in driving revenue, there's really no limit to the amount that customers may want to adopt that technology." — David Haberer (00:11, restated at 17:35)
  • "The more cases that Eve processes, the smarter and more powerful the platform becomes, again ultimately reinforcing the business model for their clients." — David Haberer (20:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Angela Strange: “It’s not AI that’s the competition, it’s your competitors using AI.” (08:09)
• Alex Immerman: “2026 is when multiplayer mode comes into gear.” (00:00, 16:08)
• Seema Amble: “What I'm most excited about is this ability to pull things out of people's heads and then suddenly unlock the real power of agents.” (05:26)
• David Haberer: “There's really no limit to the amount that customers may want to adopt that technology.” (17:35)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — "2026 is when multiplayer mode comes into gear." (Alex Immerman)
• 01:29–05:53 — Seema Amble on operationalizing AI in the enterprise, extracting context, and digital agent teams.
• 06:14–11:12 — Angela Strange on legacy acceleration, unified data, and vertical transformation in FSIs.
• 11:41–17:01 — Alex Immerman on multiplayer mode, collaboration, trust, and command center interfaces for vertical AI.
• 17:29–20:36 — David Haberer on commercial defensibility and revenue-driven AI adoption.

Episode Takeaways

• AI is moving from isolated tools to orchestrating complex, enterprise-wide workflows.
• Extracting and sharing tacit knowledge and context will be required for agent teams to operate at scale.
• Industries weighed down by legacy systems are at a turning point—AI-first platforms will win by unifying data and parallelizing work.
• Product winners will create multiplayer, collaborative environments with explicit trust and escalation rules, embedding themselves deeply into business processes.
• Commercial success will favor platforms that reinforce customer revenue models and capture proprietary outcomes data—defensibility comes from deep workflow integration and unique feedback loops.

For more episodes and insights, visit a16z.com.