Why context graphs are the missing layer for AI

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Jan 15, 2026

Animesh Koratana, CEO of PlayerZero, shares insights on building AI engineers that navigate complex enterprise systems. Jamin Ball, partner at Altimeter Capital, discusses his thesis that systems of record are essential for grounding AI. Together, they explore the significance of decision traces—capturing the nuanced reasoning behind actions—and how these form valuable context graphs. The conversation includes the future of workflows in AI, the importance of trust in agent deployment, and the intriguing debate on whether context graphs will be universal or niche assets.

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INSIGHT

Agents Capture New Decision Trajectories

Agents are becoming truly agentic, owning decisions and outcomes rather than merely assisting humans.
Decision-making trajectories reveal organizational reasoning previously invisible and enable new higher-value layers above systems of record.

INSIGHT

Front Doors Create Enormous Value

Historical parallels show systems of record rarely disappear but can be dwarfed by new front-door interfaces.
The interface that surfaces decisions (like OTAs for travel) often captures an order-of-magnitude larger value.

INSIGHT

Decisions Span Silos, Not Tools

Decisions cut across multiple siloed systems of record and are poorly captured by function-specific tools.
A centralized context graph that links decision traces across systems can reshape org structure and collapse functions.

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My guests today are Animesh Koratana and Jamin Ball.

Animesh is the founder and CEO of our portfolio company PlayerZero, which is building AI production engineers that operate complex enterprise software autonomously - resolving production incidents, catching defects before release, and building durable models of how systems actually behave.

Jamin is a partner at Altimeter Capital and the writer behind Clouded Judgement, a Substack where he analyzes emerging trends in enterprise software.

Jamin recently sparked a debate with an essay titled “Long Live Systems of Record.”

His core argument is that while agents are changing how software is used and where value accrues, they still depend on ground truth. Systems of record won't disappear so much as get pushed down the stack as new agent-native interfaces emerge on top.

My partner Jaya and I felt compelled to respond, with Animesh contributing insights based on what he's seeing on the ground as he builds PlayerZero.

From our perspective, the missing layer is what happens inside the workflow itself: the judgment, exceptions, and reasoning that agents and humans apply as work gets done. We call these decision traces, and we believe the context graph they form over time will become the most valuable asset for companies building and deploying AI systems.

It's a genuine debate - and one that's only going to matter more as agents move from demos to production.

Looking forward to keeping the conversation going!

Chapters

00:00 Why Jamin’s essay sparked debate
00:35 Jamin’s argument: agents need ground truth
02:00 Animesh on why context graphs matter
07:58 What today's systems of record are missing
08:28 How PlayerZero thinks about context graphs
10:00 How context graphs could change org structures
11:10 How do you capture decisions without making people log everything?
14:35 Which systems of record are most at risk
17:04 Two workflows ripe for disruption: GTM and software development
22:31 Animesh on where context graphs can add most value
28:50 Why context graphs create moats for startups
30:00 Will context graphs be industry-specific or universal?
34:00 Bear case: do context graphs fail like semantic layers?
43:27 2026 predictions: big AI IPOs, world models, enterprise agent adoption
45:00 Hot takes: point solutions die; AI job-loss discourse hits a fever pitch
47:30 Jevons paradox: why agents create more work, not less