a16z: Median US firm spends $12/employee/month on AI, top 1% spends $7,000
sudoraohacker · x · 2026-09-12
a16z partner David George argues AI adoption is extremely early using spending data:
- In one dataset, the median US company spends just $12 per employee per month on AI, while the top 1% spends $7,000 — a 600x gap.
- Diffusion beyond coding remains limited; even the most aggressive banks spend only 1% of headcount cost on AI tools.
- This makes him "extremely bullish": real-economy adoption is barely underway, and the fastest-growing companies ever are adding revenue faster than mega-cap tech did.
The quoted companion segment with Accolade Partners discusses AI's extreme power law: money now buys compute, and compute alone improves products — with only 20 of 3,000 US venture firms delivering consistent 3x net returns over two decades.
Related event: a16z Talk: AI Returns Follow Extreme Power Law, Adoption Still Early(3 posts)→
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