How Customer Workflows Became the Ultimate AI Moat

Consider an insurance company evaluating two different artificial intelligence assistants. Both comprehend customer inquiries, converse naturally, and shine in initial demos. Half a year later, however, one assistant executes policy renewals directly inside the insurer’s proprietary systems, adheres to strict approval protocols, and flags exceptions for human staff. The other merely functions as an occasional utility.

While a superior model could emerge at any moment, displacing the first assistant would necessitate uprooting the insurer’s entire operational playbook. This dynamic reveals where a formidable AI competitive moat is truly taking shape: embedded directly within customer workflows.

Recent industry acquisitions and strategic alliances underscore three major takeaways for founders, investors, and board members alike.

Workflow access creates strategic value

Schneider Electric’s deal to acquire PTC at an equity value of roughly $22.6 billion secures software utilized to design, build, and service physical goods, positioning Schneider right at the center of customer decision-making throughout a product’s lifecycle.

Similarly, the Synopsys and OpenAI partnership demonstrates an equivalent thesis by merging cutting-edge AI with established semiconductor design software and industry expertise, backed by revenue sharing and licensing agreements.

In our view, these deals spotlight the immense strategic worth of controlling the actual workspace where AI performs practical tasks. Enterprises already deeply rooted in intricate sectors provide trusted workflows, client relationships, and specialized domain knowledge that artificial intelligence creators require to successfully market their innovations.

For startup founders, this points toward establishing a strong foothold inside a well-defined customer process. For legacy corporations, it offers a pathway to leverage existing workflow access into commercial leverage.

Completing recurring work builds defensibility

ElevenLabs announced that its autonomous agents manage more than 15 million weekly interactions—spanning healthcare scheduling, insurance renewals, and refunds—while simultaneously revealing an employee share buyback valued at $22 billion. Such operational reliance carries immense weight for any conversation surrounding business moats. Once software integrates with internal databases, respects access permissions, navigates exceptions, and dependably executes routines, tearing it out introduces migration hurdles, validation costs, staff retraining, and operational dangers.

This deep integration bolsters client retention and opens doors to manage adjacent workflows. That said, mere integration provides only marginal safety. Users must actively rely on the solution and track the concrete value it yields. Consequently, investors ought to analyze the volume of recurring tasks moving across a platform, the specific procedures relying on it, and the true friction involved in switching providers.

Companies can acquire their way into workflows

ServiceNow’s buyout of Moveworks blends an enterprise search engine and conversational AI assistant with mature process automation. By the time the deal closed, Moveworks boasted 5.5 million corporate users, with about 250 shared clients already leveraging the tech stacks of both firms.

The core strategic prize is linking staff inquiries straight to the platforms and procedures that resolve them across human resources, IT departments, and other organizational divisions. This establishes a distinct corporate development playbook: pinpoint the target workflows a business wishes to infiltrate, map out the entry barriers, and determine whether a partnership or purchase can speed up market entry.

A compelling acquisition target typically offers proven technology, vital customer ties, deep integrations, and a firmly established place in everyday business operations.

Due diligence must probe how heavily clients rely on the utility, whether those bonds will endure post-acquisition, and if the merged product portfolio can generate verifiable gains. As artificial intelligence advances further, securing the ideal spot inside customer operations may emerge as an essential vehicle for lasting expansion.

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Itay Sagie is a strategic adviser to tech companies, investors, CEOs and boards, specializing in strategy, growth and M&A. He is a guest contributor to Crunchbase News and a university lecturer on strategy, finance and entrepreneurship. Learn more at SagieCapital.com and connect with him on LinkedIn.

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Illustration: Dom Guzman

Frequently Asked Questions

What is considered the true AI “moat” in modern business?

An AI moat is increasingly found inside customer workflows. When an AI tool is deeply embedded into a company’s internal systems, follows approval rules, and handles recurring tasks, it becomes difficult to replace, regardless of whether a newer or better model enters the market.

Why did Schneider Electric acquire PTC?

Schneider Electric agreed to acquire PTC for approximately $22.6 billion in equity value to gain software used for designing, manufacturing, and servicing physical products, embedding itself into customer decisions throughout a product’s lifecycle.

How does handling recurring work protect a software product?

When software reliably completes tasks, handles exceptions, and connects to internal systems, replacing it involves significant operational risk, migration effort, testing, and retraining, which ultimately strengthens customer retention.

What was the strategic goal of ServiceNow acquiring Moveworks?

The acquisition combined an enterprise search engine and AI assistant with established workflow automation, allowing employee requests to be connected directly to the systems that resolve them across IT, HR, and other functions.

Who is Itay Sagie?

Itay Sagie is a strategic adviser to tech companies, investors, CEOs, and boards who specializes in strategy, growth, and M&A, as well as a guest contributor to Crunchbase News and a university lecturer.