At this point, conventional wisdom has settled on the fact that AI will fundamentally change the way we all work. VC’s are funding this disruption, however we are not exempt from it.
Much less has been said about how the way we work will change. Will an AI Agent make me better or will it take my job?
AI agents will reshape the work lives of junior VCs in two key ways. First, the increased ability to automate mundane administrative tasks will lead to an increase of, and added emphasis on, face-to-face interactions between investors & founders. Secondly, AI will catalyze a shift in the traditional talent pyramid at VC & GE firms.
Historically, deal sourcing was driven by in-person networking & relationships. Often by partners and post-MBA VPs or associates.
Proprietary deals came from closed networks of broker relationships, exclusive conferences, and personal connections. Those responsible for sourcing were seasoned investors. This deal flow came at a high cost in both time & resources.
The democratization of data and introduction of SaaS platforms in the 2010s enabled more “remote sourcing.” Platforms like Pitchbook, Crunchbase, SourceScrub, and wide adoption of cloud-based CRMs resulted in private market investors adopting a B2B outbound sales motion of high-volume email outreach. The diminished need for networked individuals and in-person sourcing led to the increased hiring of younger, less experienced Analysts/Associates.
The result was firms with a base of less experienced analysts & associates equipped with a handful of SaaS platforms that mimic your average outbound B2B sales team (SDR/AE).
What happens next? Do AI tools and agents replace this pool of junior investors?
AI & The Automated Associate
We can envision a not-so-distant future where AI platforms handle many of the daily tasks of an associate:
AI is applicable across all of these areas, but where will adoption occur first and successfully?
To borrow a concept from Jackie Dimonte, the C2 score helps predict AI adoption.
The associate tasks that are hardest for AI to displace (or those with the highest C2 score) are tasks that involve (1) face-to-face founder meetings (2) relationship building / judging of management teams, (3) oversight of project/diligence workflows, or (4) making big picture assumptions in evaluations of companies.
Adoption of AI for investors likely follows a parabolic curve, where the AI automation drives a steep increase in ROI, then falls off and even creates negative ROI with excessive adoption.
For investors, the excessive automation of the sourcing process could manifest itself in the abdication of personal relationships with founders and the increase of “gatekeepers.”
Instead, AI should allow investors to focus more on human interactions & relationships.
Tools like Clay will automate email outreach, refinement of OpenAI Deep Research will replace hours of research, Rogo cuts down meeting prep, and Hebbia makes data room digestion easy. We can expect even more tools to be verticalized and adapted to fit the needs of investors.
The Talent Pyramid Shift
In the medical field, professionals are organized to work “top of license,” or at the highest extent of their training/licenses. This is why a dental hygienist cleans your teeth, but the dentist comes in to fill your cavity.
For investors, AI has a lot of room to eliminate “low license work” across everyday sourcing & diligence tasks.
As AI tools/agents automate the low license work away, there will be a relative increase in the need for higher licensed talent. This work is generally more conducive to mid-level investors that have enough experience but are not so heavily time constrained.
Investors that can speak extemporaneously about market intricacies and portfolio case studies while fostering relationships will be the new driver of deal flow.
We may see a shift from the current “pyramid talent stack” to a more diamond model. The diamond talent model would represent a decrease in inexperienced analysts and associates and an increase of mid-level talent. These mid-level Sr Associates and VPs will be needed to handle the larger emphasis on “high license” work.
Tomorrow’s associates, and those aspiring to be them, will need to anticipate this shift by being adept at leveraging AI tools and demonstrate the potential to handle high-license work.
Reorientation, not Replacement
The impact of AI on junior investors won’t be a story of wholesale replacement, but of reorientation.
As administrative tasks are increasingly automated, the emphasis will shift back toward the parts of the job that matter most: meeting founders, building relationships, and applying judgment.
The traditional pyramid structure will give way to a diamond, with fewer entry-level roles and more mid-level talent focused on high-leverage work.
Sourcing as a junior VC of the future looks less like a SaaS account executive and more like a well-rounded investor, freed up to operate at the top of their ability.