CB Insights

Where do unicorn leaders see their next AI opportunity?

We tracked 59 founders and executives across 48 new companies to see where they’re staying, where they’re switching, and what they’re building next. 🧵

Seventeen people who helped build past AI 100 winners now list roles at stealth startups. We read their work histories, papers and social posts to guess what they're building.

Guess where these people — having built some of the most promising AI startups of the last decade — are placing their next bets.

cbinsights.com/research/seven…

Shield AI built its business on software that flies drones and jets. Its deal for radar maker Echodyne shows it now wants to sell the aircraft, the autonomy, and everything around them. x.com/i/article/2118…

New in November: Our analysts now make calls on markets and companies. New datasets surface companies your AI can’t. Signals and scheduled tasks put your sourcing on autopilot.

All this and more in our biggest release yet:

🎯 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻
Data tells you what’s out there, not what to bet on. Market Views puts our analysts on the record about emerging tech. Analyst Ratings lets you pressure-test your thesis.

🔍 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁
Ask AI for lookalikes and you’ll get generic answers. Similar Companies spans 4M, including startups nobody has written about. Stealth Companies tracks 40K more yet to launch.

⚡ 𝗣𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁
Signals alert you when to act, like when a company wins its first F500 customer or hires its first public CFO. Refreshed skills help ChatCBI, Claude, or Copilot source companies, score competitors, and find founders

Learn more: cbinsights.com/november-2026-…

NYC’s AI startups aren’t racing the frontier labs. They’re selling to the banks, insurers, health systems, and asset managers that run the city.

The NYC Emerging AI 50, built with @Accenture and @TechNYC, is a list of the city's most promising AI startups.

Read more here: cbinsights.com/research/the-e…