AI startups can now achieve growth speeds previously unimaginable a generation ago. However, this rapid expansion brings the challenge of scaling, which demands massive capital. Founders must often make financing decisions before they know if their initial momentum will evolve into a lasting business.
What distinguishes companies built to endure from those that merely grow quickly?
While the correct capital can fund the infrastructure, talent, and expansion necessary for competition, raising money is not synonymous with building a stronger company.
To understand how one of the world's largest alternative asset managers evaluates companies aiming to become the next giants of AI, secure your Disrupt pass. You can bring a co-founder, partner, or colleague for a 50% discount on a second pass. Additionally, groups of four or more can enjoy further savings.
Constructing an AI company involves financing more than just product development and customer acquisition. As companies scale, compute, data centers, and other infrastructure can introduce significant capital requirements.
A recent Blackstone investment highlights this scale. Blackstone and co-investors agreed to invest up to $600 million in primary equity in the Indian AI infrastructure company Neysa, which also planned to raise an additional $600 million in debt financing.
Capital is flowing into areas beyond infrastructure. In July, Anthropic launched "Ode with Anthropic," an AI implementation company backed by a $1.5 billion joint venture involving Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs, and other investors.
These investments place Blackstone at the center of critical questions regarding AI growth: where capital is needed, which opportunities justify it, and which businesses have the potential to endure.
If your company is approaching a stage where growth requires significantly more capital, obtain your ticket to Disrupt to hear how Khaira approaches the decisions involved in scaling. Save 50% on a second pass to share these insights.
Rapid growth can attract customers, employees, and investors. Khaira will look beyond this initial momentum to determine what makes a business endure and what Blackstone considers when evaluating the next generation of category-defining companies.
Rapid growth often forces early and significant financing decisions. Founders may be raising capital while simultaneously developing products, hiring teams, competing for customers, and assessing whether the advantages driving current growth will hold up over time.
Add "Building the Next Generation of AI Giants" to your Disrupt agenda to gain an investor's perspective on evaluating early momentum, financing growth, and building for the long term.
Jas Khaira joined Blackstone in 2004 and serves as the global head of Blackstone N1 and Blackstone Growth, as well as head of tactical opportunities for the Americas. He sits on several of the firm's investment committees and founded Blackstone N1, its platform for growth, hybrid, and perpetual private equity investing across the AI ecosystem and next-generation high-growth companies.
Do you want to know what an investor at Blackstone's scale looks for before committing capital? Secure your Disrupt pass to hear directly from Khaira on the Builders Stage. Bring another person with you to share the insights at 50% off their pass.
"Building the Next Generation of AI Giants" is one of 200+ sessions across six industry stages, roundtables, and breakouts at Disrupt, taking place October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. More than 10,000 founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders are expected, along with 250+ speakers and 300 exhibiting startups.
Beyond the sessions, matchmaking, dealmaking, and ad hoc networking provide attendees with opportunities to connect with potential investors, customers, partners, and other founders facing similar challenges.
For AI founders, raising capital may be one milestone, but deciding how to use it to build a lasting company is a much larger challenge. At Disrupt, Khaira will bring an investor's perspective to this question, giving founders a closer look at what Blackstone sees when evaluating companies aiming to define the next generation of AI.
The Editorial Staff at AIChief is a team of professional content writers with extensive experience in AI and marketing. Founded in 2025, AIChief has quickly grown into the largest free AI resource hub in the industry.