Two TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 sessions approach the same question from different angles: what does it take to build an AI company that lasts? Blackstone's Jas Khaira will take the Builders Stage to explain how the world's largest alternative asset manager evaluates category-defining companies. His focus is on capital—AI startups often need huge sums for compute, data centers, and infrastructure long before early traction proves out. Khaira's message is that raising more money is not the same as building a stronger company.
On the AI Stage, Clay co-founder and CEO Kareem Amin will look at a different kind of investment: the people and systems behind growth. Amin will trace how AI created the GTM engineer, a role Clay coined in 2023 that automates research, data enrichment, and outreach. Clay says about 100 such job listings now appear monthly, at companies like Cursor, Lovable, and Webflow. The company itself has grown quickly, tripling ARR to $100 million and later raising a $115 million Series D at a $7.1 billion valuation.
The two sources agree that AI has changed the speed and shape of company building, and that early momentum is not enough. But they differ in emphasis: Khaira stresses the capital intensity of AI infrastructure and the need for patient, large-scale financing, while Amin stresses operational reinvention—building revenue systems that let existing teams do more without simply adding headcount. Together, they frame the twin challenges facing AI founders: securing the right capital and building the right go-to-market machine.