GenAI has the power and promise to transform enterprise operations, but a critical question remains: should F500 companies buy GenAI-based solutions from venture-backed companies, or should they build these next-gen platforms in-house? Heath Butler, Partner at Mercury, is joined by a panel of enterprise experts and venture-backed AI innovators for a dynamic conversation on AI adoption in the enterprise. Panel members include Benjamin Kent, CEO of Ambyint, James Gardner, Principal at KPMG,Jon Sobel, Co-Founder and CEO of Sight Machine, and David Burnley, VP of Product Innovation at Insperity. This episode was originally hosted as a panel at CXO Summit 2025.
Timecoded Guide:
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- [00:00] Podcast begins
- [03:55] Why Enterprise Pursue AI: Data-driven problem-solving on a massive scale
- [14:51] Failures & Victories: Startup perspectives on selling AI products
- [20:24] Buy vs Build: How can enterprises fulfill their AI needs effectively?
- [33:36] Where Consultants Come In: Selecting AI solutions for customers & clients
- [41:20] Final Advice to Founders: Research, readiness & reflective selling practices
Key Takeaways:
- Buy vs Build: With an enterprise perspective, David Burnley has both bought and built AI products with Insperity. For enterprise companies, the capacity to build or buy is heavily determined by the talent and operations they already have in place. If an enterprise has engineers and experts at their disposal, it’s going to be harder to sell to them, when they know they might be able to make something better.
- Show Your Work: For founders looking to break into enterprise selling, Jon Sobel is a strong advocate for finding a way to show your work and prove your effectiveness to your client from the beginning. With his team at Sight Machine, Jon has become an expert on identifying the right ways to show value, because AI products need buy-in from the people within an enterprise, not just the leadership.
- Align Your Values: From the consulting side, James Gardner and his team at KPMG consider recommending startup products and services to their clients based on aligning values. Consultants are looking for high-quality solutions to topical and trending problems for their clients, and they want to see that a startup can fill that niche without compromising on quality.
- Consider Your Customer: Benjamin Kent at Ambyint has learned the hard way to be considerate and even choosy about the enterprise clients he sells to. His advice to other startups? Be mindful of when you’re selling to enterprises, if they’ve tried their hand at AI in other ways, and the readiness and depth of the data they’re working with.
