How do you diffuse AI into the real world? — Varun Shenoy, Long Lake
Aug 28, 2026 · 17:46
Varun Shenoy, co-founder of Long Lake, argues that AI diffusion into real-world services requires operator-owners, not vendors, and explains how his firm buys and runs 35 services businesses — including a $6.3 billion take-private of American Express Global Business Travel — to make agents complete economically relevant tasks. He frames adoption as a generational shift like electricity, and details a ladder from copilots to async agents to AI coworkers, earned by proving value. Long Lake represents knowledge work as code, captures traces and ground truth from work like roof repairs and book closing to build evals, and treats continual learning and enablement as one snowball loop. He concludes that co-designing software with a 100-year-old firm cannot happen over Zoom; it requires showing up in person, running conference stands, and asking questions on a mountain bike.
