How Enterprise CIOs Build & Buy AI In 2025 (a16z Report)

This week, I’m diving into one of the most insightful pieces of research I’ve come across lately—a report by a16z based on interviews with over 100 enterprise CIOs across five industries. If you’re building, selling, or using AI in a big company—or just trying to understand how enterprise AI is evolving—you’ll want to hear what’s really driving AI adoption at scale.

In this episode of In The Loop, I break down three of the most interesting trends from the report that totally shifted how I think about enterprise AI today. From the dramatic shift from “build” to “buy,” to a budget explosion that shows just how serious companies are about integrating AI, to how wrong we all were about model consolidation—this research is packed with mind-blowing insights.

Whether you're a SaaS founder, enterprise tech leader, or AI enthusiast, there's something in here for you.

⏩ Episode Highlights

(01:00) – Why enterprises are ditching "build" for "buy" when it comes to AI solutions

(06:40) – Budget explosion: AI spending grows 75% beyond expectations

(09:55) – Customer-facing AI: the next wave of enterprise adoption

(11:10) – How wrong we were about LLM consolidation—and why multi-model is the future

(16:45) – What this all means for builders: why it’s time to move faster than ever

Links & Resources

🤖 Check out Mindset AI’s customer-facing embed AI agents

📊 a16z How 100 Enterprise CIOs Are Building and Buying Gen AI in 2025

📖 Episode transcript + graphs on the Mindset AI blog

If you enjoyed this episode, rate, follow, and share! It helps others stay ahead of the latest AI trends. 🚀