VC Analyst

AgentLed research

AI agents in investment teams: buy, build, or combine?

A short exploratory study of how venture teams introduce AI into sourcing, diligence, portfolio work and firm operations.

How do teams decide which tools to buy, which capabilities to build, and where human judgment must stay in the loop?

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A buy-versus-build adoption map comparing anonymous firms, with a highlighted marker for your firm
How does your AI adoption compare to similar firms?

We’re inviting a curated group of 300+ venture firms. Participants receive de-identified findings on what teams automate, keep human, buy, build and stop using.

Why this study

General models, specialist investment tools and internal agents each solve part of the problem. We want to understand the operating choices behind real adoption — including what teams decide not to use.

A five-layer research lens

We look beyond the model itself. At every layer, the question is the same: buy, build, or combine?

  1. 01

    Information foundation

  2. 02

    Firm context

  3. 03

    Intelligence

  4. 04

    Agents

  5. 05

    Workflow and control

The capabilities informing the study

We are mapping how investment teams combine general AI, specialist intelligence products and internal capabilities across their investment process.

Study ongoing

General AI

Foundation models and agentic assistants

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini

Investment intelligence

Research, sourcing and private-market intelligence

  • Kruncher
  • Harmonic
  • Evertrace
  • Specter
  • Dealroom

Firm systems

Relationship context and the systems of record

  • Affinity
  • Attio
  • DealCloud

Company knowledge

Meeting intelligence, firm memory and shared context

  • Granola
  • Circleback
  • Notion
  • In-house / custom

Build and automation

Internal tools, agentic coding and workflow building

  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • n8n

Always-on agents

Persistent agents that keep working across the operating cadence

  • OpenClaw
  • Hermes
  • AgentLed

Outreach

Prospecting, relationship activation and follow-up

  • Apollo
  • Clay
  • Instantly
  • Unipile

The study is ongoing. Aggregate signals will appear here when they are updated.

The adoption map will appear when its aggregate has been updated.

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Study response

How is your firm approaching AI?

Tell us how AI fits into your investment process. Select the tools and internal capabilities involved, then add anything we have missed.

We’ll use your work email to identify your firm and send your private response link, comparison, and final findings report.

Which tools or internal capabilities support your investment process today?

General AI

Investment intelligence

Firm systems

Company knowledge

Build and automation

Always-on agents

Outreach

What best describes your in-house setup?
What technical capacity does the firm have? Select all that apply.
Which recent work triggered this decision? Select all that apply.
What mattered most in the decision? Select all that apply.
How would you like to take part?

Your response will be analysed only in de-identified aggregate patterns. We will never publish anything beyond an opt-in firm logo without separate approval.

We’ll email you a private response link and comparison, followed by the de-identified findings report when the study closes.

Industry research and sources

These external reports frame our questions about investment workflows, data and governance. They are not AgentLed study results and do not represent the views of every venture firm.

What participation involves

A 20-minute research conversation about one recent workflow, whether AI was used or not.

  • What triggered the work and which tools were involved
  • What a human reviewed, corrected or decided to keep manual
  • What changed — including no change, a paused experiment or a stopped tool
  • What evidence would make the next adoption decision easier
Share a workflow by email

Research boundaries

  • Not a sales call or product trial
  • No confidential data, credentials or system access requested
  • No recording or attribution without separate permission
  • Positive, neutral and negative experiences are equally useful

Participate in the study

Take part in the way that suits you. Everyone who opts in will receive the findings brief and practical industry insights.

01

Share your perspective

Share a 20-minute research perspective. Your contribution stays private and is used only in de-identified findings.

Contribute to the study 02

Receive the findings only

Receive the de-identified findings brief when it is published, without taking part in an interview.

Contribute to the study 03

Be considered for a featured contribution

Contribute to the study and signal that you may be open to a named contribution on this page.

Contribute to the study

A public contribution is never automatic: we will request approval for the exact wording, name, role and placement before it appears on this page.

Contribute to the study

A short research conversation, a findings brief, or a possible featured contribution — choose the participation that suits you.

Contribute to the study

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