The hype around AI can make it seem like we’re nearing its peak, but as I’ve been diving into the latest insights from industry leaders, I’m convinced we’re just scratching the surface. The “Future of AI: Perspectives for Startups 2025” report highlights a key truth: AI’s transformative wave is still in its early days, and startups have a unique chance to shape its trajectory.

Take Elad Gil’s point that AI is “massively underhyped” despite all the buzz. He’s right, whether it’s democratizing healthcare with fine-tuned models or revolutionizing education with personalized learning, the low-hanging fruit is still out there. But here’s the catch: founders need to move fast and focus on what users truly care about, not just what’s technically flashy.

My advice? Don’t just wrap a large language model and call it a product. Build for specific pain points, think enterprise search (as Edo Liberty suggests) or agentic workflows that handle entire tasks (Jill Greenberg Chase’s vision). The startups that win will pair deep domain knowledge with agile execution, leveraging tools like Google Cloud’s Gemini 2.0 to ship fast and iterate.