The real AI money isn't where everyone's looking.
The Summary
- Wesley Chan from FPV points to "nonobvious" industries where AI startups are winning, discussed at the HumanX conference
- The pattern: AI wins hardest in sectors that look boring until the automation hits
- Smart money is hunting for AI plays outside the chatbot spotlight
The Signal
Wesley Chan's thesis is worth listening to. FPV has a track record, and when a managing partner starts talking about nonobvious winners, they're usually describing where they've already placed chips.
The broader pattern here is that the first wave of AI hype chased consumer-facing chatbots and generative art tools. High visibility, crowded cap tables, brutal competition. The second wave, the one Chan is describing, goes after industries with actual margin and real operational friction. Think logistics optimization, commercial insurance underwriting, legal document review at scale. Boring? Absolutely. Lucrative? Profoundly.
The HumanX conference setting matters too. This isn't a pitch to retail investors. This is institutional capital trying to figure out where the next decade of returns lives. When VCs talk publicly about "nonobvious" plays, they're often telegraphing a thesis they're already executing. The signal isn't just that these opportunities exist. It's that the smart money thinks the window is still open.
The Implication
If you're building or investing in AI, stop chasing the obvious. The tools are commoditizing fast. The defensible businesses are the ones solving specific, high-value problems in industries that don't make TechCrunch headlines. Look for sectors with legacy software, manual processes, and fat margins. That's where AI agents turn into real revenue.
Source: Bloomberg Tech