For more than a decade, the dominant idea in technology was simple. Build a great application, solve a clear problem, and scale fast. First came mobile apps. Then SaaS products multiplied across every business function. Marketing tools, finance tools, HR tools, security tools, collaboration tools. Each one promised efficiency. Over time, companies ended up managing dozens of disconnected systems.
Today, that model is breaking. Organizations are no longer looking for another dashboard. They are looking for systems that understand their data, connect their workflows, and actively support decision making. At the same time, artificial intelligence is moving from being a feature inside products to becoming the foundation of how products are built.
This shift is giving rise to a new category: AI operating layers. The next generation of unicorns will not look like traditional apps. They will look like intelligent layers that sit at the core of how businesses operate.
From Apps to Platforms to Operating Layers
Technology evolution tends to follow a recognizable pattern. It starts with point solutions that solve a single task. As adoption grows, these solutions expand into platforms that offer multiple features. Eventually, a small number of platforms become so deeply embedded that they start functioning as operating layers.
An operating layer does not just provide tools. It orchestrates workflows, centralizes data, and shapes how an organization functions. In the AI era, this concept becomes even more powerful. When intelligence is embedded at the core, the system is not only executing tasks. It is interpreting context, learning from usage, and continuously improving how work gets done. This is fundamentally different from adding an AI chatbot on top of an existing product.
What Makes an AI Operating Layer Different
An AI operating layer is designed to own a domain, not a feature. A knowledge operating layer does not only store documents. It understands corporate knowledge, generates content, supports training, and delivers the right information to the right person at the right time.
A finance operating layer does not only create reports. It monitors cash flow, runs scenarios, flags risks, and supports strategic planning. A security operating layer does not only detect threats. It observes behavior, predicts potential attacks, and automates response. The common thread is depth of integration. These systems become the place where data flows through. Over time, they develop a unique understanding of how a company operates. That understanding becomes extremely difficult to replicate.
Why Layers Create Stronger Companies Than Apps
Great apps can grow fast. But they are often easy to replace. Operating layers are harder to displace because they become embedded in daily operations. Switching costs are high, not only technically but organizationally.
When a product shapes workflows, decision processes, and institutional knowledge, it stops being a tool. It becomes infrastructure. From an investment perspective, this creates stronger moats. Revenue becomes more durable. Expansion opportunities increase. The product naturally grows into adjacent use cases. Most importantly, the company is no longer competing only on features. It is competing on ownership of a critical layer in the enterprise stack.
How ENA Looks at Layer Companies
At ENA Venture Capital, we pay close attention to where a startup sits in the stack. One simple question guides our thinking. If this product disappeared tomorrow, what would break inside the organization? If the answer is a small workflow, the company is likely building a tool. If the answer is core operations, decision making, or institutional memory, the company is likely building an operating layer.
We believe the most valuable AI companies of the next decade will be those that position themselves as foundational layers across knowledge, finance, security, infrastructure, and operations. Not because they add more features, but because they become indispensable.
Conclusion
The market is entering a new phase. The app era unlocked massive innovation. The platform era created ecosystems. The operating layer era will redefine how organizations function.
Future unicorns will not win by offering one more productivity tool. They will win by becoming the intelligent backbone of entire business functions.
At ENA, we invest behind founders who are not just building products, but designing the layers that modern enterprises will run on. Because real scale is not achieved by shipping another app. Real scale is achieved by owning the layer.