Can Engineers Replace Consultants? Ode Bets Yes

Ode with Anthropic is a joint venture backed by Anthropic, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and others, embedding forward-deployed engineers inside enterprise firms as an alternative to traditional consulting armies. The venture acquired applied AI startup Fractional AI as its core. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Ode leaders Chris Taylor and Eddie Siegel explain why enterprise AI pilots so rarely reach production and why they believe AI-native services are poised to become one of tech's biggest emerging categories.