A new joint venture called Ode with Anthropic aims to prove that a small team of engineers can replace a large consulting workforce. Backed by Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs, the venture embeds forward-deployed engineers in enterprise firms to help them adopt AI. The core team comes from Fractional AI, an applied AI services startup Ode acquired earlier this year.
Why enterprise AI pilots fail
On a recent episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Ode's leaders Chris Taylor and Eddie Siegel discussed why many enterprise AI pilots never reach production. They argued that traditional consulting models are too slow and expensive, while AI-native services can deliver faster results. Taylor and Siegel believe that AI services will become one of the biggest categories in tech, as companies struggle to move from experimentation to real-world deployment.
A new model for AI adoption
Ode with Anthropic focuses on embedding engineers directly into client teams to build and deploy AI solutions. This approach contrasts with the typical consulting model, which often produces reports but not working software. The venture's backers include major financial firms, signaling confidence in the demand for hands-on AI implementation services. Taylor and Siegel emphasized that the key is to reduce the time between pilot and production, a challenge many enterprises face today.