State of AI: The Builder's Economy | July 2026 | ICONIQ
Executive Summary & Investment Thesis
The central thesis of the report is that the AI ecosystem has officially shifted "from proving AI works to proving AI pays." Delivering AI features is no longer a differentiator but table stakes. Winners are emerging based on how disciplined they are regarding unit economics, pricing architectures, org design, and agentic workflow integration.
AI is no longer just an experiment; it now drives 42% of revenue (projected for 2026, up from 32% in 2025) across surveyed software companies. Concurrently, gross margins are expanding dramatically, rising from 45% in 2025 to 53% in 2026, with projections targeting ~59% by 2027.
Key Takeaways Across the 4 Core Shifts
1. Application Layer Convergence & Agentic Depth
References
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