Froth-to-Pragmatism Pivot: Vertical AI and Practical Infrastructure

Rising number of vertical AI deals: Onyx Security $113M, Smallest.ai $13M, Henry AI $16.5M, Endra $50M, Ellis $10M+ seed, Autodesk $350M workforce investment. Zip report shows 6x ROI but only 17% achieve it. Shift from building to monetizing AI infrastructure. Apple's capital efficiency vs Oracle's overreach. Defense giants buying AI startups ($4.1B). Sovereign AI funds (Mistral, MGX).