CES 2026: AI is driving faster scaling and higher valuations, says General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja

AI Driving Faster Scale and Valuations for Companies, Say Industry Leaders at CES 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling companies to scale faster, shorten development cycles, and integrate technology across all layers of business, leading to sharp gains in valuations and revenues, industry leaders said at CES 2026.

Speaking at a panel discussion, Hemant Taneja, chief executive of venture capital firm General Catalyst, and Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey & Company, said organisations are growing at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by rapid AI adoption.

Taneja highlighted the contrast between traditional and AI-led growth trajectories. Payments firm Stripe took 12–13 years to reach a $100 billion valuation, while AI startup Anthropic achieved a similar milestone within just a couple of years, largely due to artificial intelligence. Founded by former OpenAI executives, Anthropic develops the safety-focused generative AI model Claude.

Anthropic raised $13 billion in September last year, pushing its valuation to $183 billion, up from $61.5 billion in March 2025. The company reported a revenue run rate of $1 billion at the start of 2025, which scaled to $5 billion by August. A revenue run rate represents projected annual revenue based on current performance.

Commenting on the rapid growth of AI startups, Sternfels said large enterprises are increasingly deploying solutions from companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. “Large enterprises are using technology at a scale and rate that they haven’t before. If you look at IT spend as a percentage of revenue, it has gone up, and that is what is propelling the 10X growth we are seeing among AI startups,” he said.

As AI reshapes enterprise operations, Sternfels said companies will need to rethink hiring criteria. For technical roles, traditional indicators such as educational background should matter less than demonstrable skills, including real-world contributions on platforms like GitHub. This shift could widen access to the workforce through alternative pathways, he added.

Taneja noted that education systems have historically focused on training people to solve complex problems, but AI is increasingly taking on that role. “The next generation needs to focus more on asking the right questions. It’s about curiosity and developing a very different mindset,” he said.

The AI-driven shift is also changing how venture capital firms operate. In October 2025, General Catalyst acquired Summa Health, an Ohio-based healthcare organisation, a move that diverged from traditional early-stage investing. Taneja said the acquisition was aimed at transforming legacy healthcare systems using AI and providing startups with easier market access.

“Instead of disrupting incumbents from the outside, we are acquiring underperforming institutions and opening them up to technology-led transformation,” he said.

Sternfels added that the approach represents a new asset class rather than private equity. “It’s about transforming incumbent entities into something fundamentally different,” he said.

AI Driving Faster Scale and Valuations for Companies, Say Industry Leaders at CES 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling companies to scale faster, shorten development cycles, and integrate technology across all layers of business, leading to sharp gains in valuations and revenues, industry leaders said at CES 2026.

Speaking at a panel discussion, Hemant Taneja, chief executive of venture capital firm General Catalyst, and Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey & Company, said organisations are growing at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by rapid AI adoption.

Taneja highlighted the contrast between traditional and AI-led growth trajectories. Payments firm Stripe took 12–13 years to reach a $100 billion valuation, while AI startup Anthropic achieved a similar milestone within just a couple of years, largely due to artificial intelligence. Founded by former OpenAI executives, Anthropic develops the safety-focused generative AI model Claude.

Anthropic raised $13 billion in September last year, pushing its valuation to $183 billion, up from $61.5 billion in March 2025. The company reported a revenue run rate of $1 billion at the start of 2025, which scaled to $5 billion by August. A revenue run rate represents projected annual revenue based on current performance.

Commenting on the rapid growth of AI startups, Sternfels said large enterprises are increasingly deploying solutions from companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. “Large enterprises are using technology at a scale and rate that they haven’t before. If you look at IT spend as a percentage of revenue, it has gone up, and that is what is propelling the 10X growth we are seeing among AI startups,” he said.

As AI reshapes enterprise operations, Sternfels said companies will need to rethink hiring criteria. For technical roles, traditional indicators such as educational background should matter less than demonstrable skills, including real-world contributions on platforms like GitHub. This shift could widen access to the workforce through alternative pathways, he added.

Taneja noted that education systems have historically focused on training people to solve complex problems, but AI is increasingly taking on that role. “The next generation needs to focus more on asking the right questions. It’s about curiosity and developing a very different mindset,” he said.

The AI-driven shift is also changing how venture capital firms operate. In October 2025, General Catalyst acquired Summa Health, an Ohio-based healthcare organisation, a move that diverged from traditional early-stage investing. Taneja said the acquisition was aimed at transforming legacy healthcare systems using AI and providing startups with easier market access.

“Instead of disrupting incumbents from the outside, we are acquiring underperforming institutions and opening them up to technology-led transformation,” he said.

Sternfels added that the approach represents a new asset class rather than private equity. “It’s about transforming incumbent entities into something fundamentally different,” he said.

(The author is attending CES 2026 in Las Vegas at the invitation of the Consumer Technology Association, USA.)