# The Incumbents Are Coming

> In The Incumbents Are Coming, a16z pushes back on the tidy narrative that AI is a wrecking ball aimed at established companies. The argument is that big enterprises, the ones that own the systems of record where a business's real data lives, are using AI to reinforce their positions rather than lose them. The essay traces how incumbents can bolt agentic AI onto the workflows and data they already control, turning their scale into an advantage that startups struggle to match. It reframes the competition, from a story of disruption to one of integration, where owning the customer's data and daily processes may matter more than having the cleverest model. Published September 3, 2026, it is a useful counterweight for anyone assuming AI automatically favors the newcomer.

_Section: [Interesting AI Articles](https://www.wortins.com/articles) · Source: Andreessen Horowitz · Published Tuesday, September 8, 2026_

## Wortins' read

In The Incumbents Are Coming, a16z pushes back on the tidy narrative that AI is a wrecking ball aimed at established companies. The argument is that big enterprises, the ones that own the systems of record where a business's real data lives, are using AI to reinforce their positions rather than lose them. The essay traces how incumbents can bolt agentic AI onto the workflows and data they already control, turning their scale into an advantage that startups struggle to match. It reframes the competition, from a story of disruption to one of integration, where owning the customer's data and daily processes may matter more than having the cleverest model. Published September 3, 2026, it is a useful counterweight for anyone assuming AI automatically favors the newcomer.

## Source

[Read the full story at Andreessen Horowitz](https://a16z.com/the-incumbents-are-coming/)

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