Roads2Rome.eu 🚀 🇪🇺 🤝

These 10 #startups are now worth $1T+ combined. Here’s who’s adding customers the fastest 👇 Ramp tracks what 50,000+ companies actually spend on software — not pitch decks, not #VC hype. What finance teams approve. Top 10 fastest-growing vendors (Feb 2026) with #ARR, valuation, and investor data: → #Anthropic — $14B ARR run-rate. $380B valuation → #OpenAI — $20B+ ARR. $500B valuation → #Cursor — $500M+ ARR. 486 employees → #ElevenLabs — $330M ARR. $11B valuation → #Lovable — $0 → $200M ARR in 12 months → #Replit — $240M revenue. $9B valuation → #Vercel — $200M ARR. 82% YoY growth → #Supabase — $70M ARR. $5B valuation → #xAI — $230B valuation. Acquired by SpaceX → #Granola — 84 employees. ~$1B round rumored Three things jumped out: 1/ Every single company is #AI-native. Not one legacy vendor. The entire Top 10 is <10 years old. 2/ #Lovable went from $0 → $100M ARR in 12 months. One of the fastest ramps in software history. 788 people. $6.6B valuation. 3/ #Granola has 84 employees and a ~$1B round rumored. That’s ~$12M valuation per employee — before disclosing revenue.

⚡ AI investment is not concentrated where most executives think. The real power sits in infrastructure and applications, not just models. Capital flows across the AI stack reveal where strategic leverage is actually accumulating. 1️⃣ Competitive Shift Control over compute, energy capacity, and data infrastructure determines who can scale AI reliably and cost-effectively. 2️⃣ Structural Blind Spot Many policymakers equate AI sovereignty with domestic model development while overlooking the leverage embedded in hardware, grid capacity, and application ecosystems. 3️⃣ Strategic Risk Regions that focus only on models risk remaining dependent on external compute, energy, and distribution layers. AI advantage is not secured at the model layer alone. It is secured across the stack. Are you investing in visible innovation, or in the structural layers that actually determine sovereignty? via Bain & Company bain.com/insights/what-… @corixpartners @Transform_Sec @Corix_JC @ILoveBooks786 @COSTESLionelEr @ramonvidall @RLDI_Lamy @FrRonconi @timo_vi @Nicochan33 @NathaliaLeHen @TCyberCast @arigatou163 @ricardo_ik_ahau @VivMilanoFSL @bulbi59 @BulbiT3ch @sonu_monika @kkruse @ExperimentWorld @EduFirst @i_gestio13730 @pthigo @TalentedLearn @MathildaLoco @quepasachico @faryus88 @emiratidancer @ATSPGroup @DexaAI @sulefati7 @bbailey39 @gvalan @9SManagement

The 2026 Gartner Technology Adoption Roadmap reveals how leaders benchmark plans across 44 core technologies and address unpredictable cost concerns: gtnr.it/4rGiAhs Join our webinar on March 5th to learn more ⬆️ #GartnerIT #Infrastructure #Operations #TechAdoption

European 🇪🇺 (co-)founders have created more enterprise value in the US 🇺🇸 than in Europe itself 🤯 Europe produces 24% of the world's unicorn founders. Almost half start in or moves the US (source: @yoramdw ). But where does the value end up? This chart says it all. 🇺🇸 North America: $3.6T 🇪🇺 Europe: $1.2T OpenAI, Stripe, Shopify, Palantir, Databricks, CrowdStrike, Snowflake, all founded or co-founded by Europeans, all built in America. Meanwhile Spotify, Revolut, argenx, Adyen, and ElevenLabs prove it can absolutely be done from Europe too. 📷 Screenshot from @dealroomco Unicorns & Thoroughbreds dashboard. NOTE: Founded since 2000 (so excl Google).

⚡ The Middle East’s AI future will not be won on model quality. It will be won on state capacity. Compute access, regulatory coordination, capital deployment, and execution speed now matter more than frontier model performance. 1️⃣ Strategic impact: AI advantage shifts to governments that align infrastructure, policy, and capital into coordinated national capability. 2️⃣ Leadership reality: Many still frame AI leadership as a model race, ignoring institutional capacity as the real constraint. 3️⃣ Execution risk: Without strong state capacity, AI investment fragments into pilots and announcements that fail to scale. The uncomfortable question leaders can’t avoid: Are you investing in better models, or in the system that makes them usable at national scale? 📎 via The National: Middle East’s AI Future Will Be Won on State Capacity, Not Model Quality 🔗 thenationalnews.com/future/technol… #SovereignAI #AIStrategy #DigitalTransformation #Geopolitics

📍 Agentic AI does not fail because the technology is immature. It fails because service models stay built for projects, not operations. As agents move into production, value shifts from implementation work to continuous orchestration, control, and evolution. 1️⃣ Strategic impact: Tech services shift from one-off delivery to an operating system, where integration, monitoring, SLAs, and governance determine whether agentic AI compounds value or compounds risk. 2️⃣ Leadership reality: Many leaders still evaluate AI services through a traditional IT lens, underestimating the new commercial models, skills, and accountability required to run agents daily. 3️⃣ Execution risk: If service design stays unchanged, organizations scale agents without run-state support, leading to brittle systems, unclear ownership, and declining trust over time. The uncomfortable question leaders can’t avoid: Are your tech services designed for deploying AI once, or for operating agentic systems every day? 📎 via McKinsey & Company: Reimagining the Value Proposition of Tech Services for Agentic AI 🔗 mckinsey.com/industries/tec… @corixpartners @Transform_Sec @Corix_JC @ILoveBooks786 @COSTESLionelEr @ramonvidall @RLDI_Lamy @FrRonconi @timo_vi @Nicochan33 @NathaliaLeHen @sulefati7 @TCyberCast @bulbi59 @BulbiT3ch @arigatou163 @ricardo_ik_ahau @9SManagement @sonu_monika @VivMilanoFSL @drsharwood @TalentedLearn @gvalan @kkruse @BCAgroup @gaillparr @kosa4416 @O_Berard @roads2rome @JoelleGirton @JohnLeh @benishii_ @Alovesublime @bbailey39 @xavierquerat @michaeldacosta @ALouiseLavalett @AteeRdc @Tech2Specialist @CilerAyse @machiku2015 @MathildaLoco @Idan_sh_

Before selling budget owners and stakeholders on funding an enterprise tech purchase, buying teams must build and deliver a solid business case. Source @Gartner_inc Link gtnr.it/3hBsL7V RT @antgrasso #IT #CIO

📍 Abu Dhabi’s AI bet is not defined by models. It is defined by infrastructure, capital, and deal flow. As MGX ramps toward a $𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗕+ 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁, the signal is clear: the center of gravity is shifting toward AI, data centers, and chips. 1️⃣ Strategic impact: Advantage moves to ecosystems that can secure compute, power, and distribution, because deployment capacity now matters as much as model capability. 2️⃣ Leadership reality: Many leaders still talk about “AI strategy” while the real race is being financed: who controls the inputs that make scale possible. 3️⃣ Execution risk: When infrastructure becomes the constraint, value concentrates, timelines slip, and dependency risk rises for firms that cannot secure supply and operating leverage. The uncomfortable question leaders can’t avoid: Are you building AI capability, or buying into an infrastructure stack you do not control? 📎 via Bloomberg: OpenAI and Anthropic deals power Abu Dhabi’s $100 billion AI bet 🔗bloom.bg/4kNqgfe @corixpartners @Transform_Sec @Corix_JC @ILoveBooks786 @COSTESLionelEr @ramonvidall @RLDI_Lamy @FrRonconi @timo_vi @Nicochan33 @NathaliaLeHen @sulefati7 @TCyberCast @bulbi59 @BulbiT3ch @arigatou163 @ricardo_ik_ahau @9SManagement @sonu_monika @VivMilanoFSL @drsharwood @TalentedLearn @gvalan @kkruse @BCAgroup @gaillparr @kosa4416 @O_Berard @roads2rome @JoelleGirton @JohnLeh @benishii_ @Alovesublime @bbailey39 @xavierquerat @michaeldacosta @ALouiseLavalett @AteeRdc @Tech2Specialist @CilerAyse @machiku2015 @MathildaLoco @Idan_sh_

Gartner Newsroom: Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 10.8% in 2026, Totaling $6.15 Trillion #GartnerNewsroom gtnr.it/4tg5Y1z

CIOs find #AI delivers value only on top of disciplined IT foundations; without clean data and governance, it just accelerates existing chaos.🧩💻 #Business #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence #AINews ow.ly/O6xB50Y62hz

The EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement is now in force. It sets a high standard for digital trade rules between the EU and Singapore and raises the ambition of digital trade rules globally. More: link.europa.eu/w3fDGd

We loved connecting at Go West 2026 — now imagine that energy turned into scalable revenue for your portfolio startups. Curious how interim sales capacity accelerates growth? 🚀 roads2rome.eu #GoWestConference #GoWest2026 #NordicCapital #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #GoteborgCo #MoreAlliance #BusinessSweden #Teknikforetagen #Nordea

Jeff Bezos paid Melania Trump $28 million to make a documentary. Hillary Clinton was investigated for making $100k on cattle futures. Melania's payout is 280 times larger. And the movie is bombing. It wasn't a movie deal. It was a payment.

Most teams wait to build sales muscle. We lend it—experienced, local, and ready. Bold missions don’t wait. 💪🌍 #StartupExpansion #B2BGrowth #EuropeanMarkets #GoWestConference #SalesLeadership roads2rome.eu

🎯 AI is not displacing work randomly. It is exposing roles built on repeatable language and predictable interaction. The risk is already visible. Task structure, not job titles, determines exposure. 1️⃣ Strategic impact: Value shifts away from conversational and interpretive roles that lack differentiation, while advantage consolidates around work that combines judgment, context, and ownership. 2️⃣ Leadership reality: Many organizations still frame AI risk as automation versus humans, avoiding accountability for how poorly designed roles amplify exposure. 3️⃣ Execution risk: Job value erodes quietly, relevance declines before headcount changes occur, and disruption arrives without warning once redesign is delayed. The uncomfortable question leaders can’t avoid: Are you redesigning roles for AI collaboration, or waiting for exposure to turn into disruption? 📎 via Visual Capitalist: Top 40 Jobs Most Exposed to AI 🔗 visualcapitalist.com/top-40-jobs-at… #FutureOfWork #AIstrategy #Leadership #DigitalTransformation @gaillparr @liontarakos @bbailey39 @BulbiT3ch @corixpartners @Transform_Sec @Corix_JC @ILoveBooks786 @COSTESLionelEr @ramonvidall @RLDI_Lamy @FrRonconi @timo_vi @Nicochan33 @NathaliaLeHen @sulefati7 @bulbi59 @arigatou163 @JohnLeh @Alovesublime @roads2rome @ALouiseLavalett @JoelleGirton @Grzebalski86888 @jornalistavitor @ExperimentWorld @SENDEROPRESS @VR_ARTech @coastal_scribe @Tech2Specialist @TCyberCast @WPricer @barristerlawusa @0xf2258f @Pulse1Pilot @O_Berard @quepasachico @codewithimanshu @NigelTozer @Ahmed43101178 @pierrecappelli @SitConsultores @PVynckier @mvollmer1 @AI_PlanetX @DrFerdowsi @VibeEdgeAI @Fabriziobustama @BridgeworksLtd

Strategy is important. But revenue loves speed. We give startups interim sales power—so European growth happens now. ⚡🚀 #EuropeanGrowth #EnterpriseSales #GoWest2026 #ScaleUps #TechExpansion roads2rome.eu

We are pleased to announce that Wouter Durville, Founder of testgorilla, will join the speaker line-up at the EU-Startups Summit 2026 on May 7-8 in sunny Malta! 🇲🇹 ✨ eu-startups.com/2026/01/testgo…

We’re still buzzing from 💥 Göteborg — now let’s channel that into revenue acceleration, not just strategy. Who’s ready? 📊 ➡️ buff.ly/LAJli43 Roads2Rome ~ Growth as a Service #GoWestConference #GoWest2026 #NordicCapital #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #JoinCapital #GreenCodeVC #VolvoGroup #Speedinvest #WorldFundVC

From founder pitch to pipeline growth — investors who leverage interim sales capacity see a different trajectory. Are you in? 🤝 ➡️ buff.ly/LAJli43 #GoWestConference #GoWest2026 #NordicCapital #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #startup #NorrskenLauncher #IsomerCapital #NordicNinjaVC #Verdane #NucleusCapital

Investing in vision is one thing — unlocking growth momentum is another. Let’s talk about why interim sales execution matters. ➡️ buff.ly/LAJli43 #GoWestConference #GoWest2026 #NordicCapital #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #BDO #Setterwalls #ChalmersVentures #ClearwaterCF #PlugAndPlayTech