AI startups shift from thin wrappers to full-stack agents

The author argues that the pendulum for AI application startups is swinging away from thin workflow wrappers toward full-stack models with deep technical control, routing, and governance. As agents increase in complexity and cost, vertical startups are finding success by owning open-weight models, tailoring them to specific domains like healthcare and finance, and taking on direct liability for outcomes. Companies such as Hippocratic and Hyphenate illustrate this shift by building proprietary plumbing, rigorous evaluation frameworks, and audit-ready workflows. Open article →