To say that AI is in a boom is an understatement.
In the last 18 months, AI has done remarkable things; like when AI was used to read ancient scrolls, or when machine learning reached the benchmark of being able to identify over 1,000 diseases before a clinical diagnosis.
The potential use cases send data scientists and AI engineers around the world into a wistful daydream.
And it’s not unwarranted.
In January. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei notably announced at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that AI models could surpass human capabilities “in almost everything” by 2027.
In a study published just two months later, scientists at UC San Diego reported that OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 model passed for a human 73 percent of the time.
Built In found 20 tech companies that are trying to make a mark in the AI annals of history while the industry is at the height of innovation.
What Magna International does: Magna International is a global mobility technology company that designs and manufactures automotive systems, assemblies and more.
AI innovation at Magna International: Magna announced a program in collaboration with NVIDIA to integrate the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform within the company’s auto tech. According to a press release from Magna, the collaboration will enable various levels of autonomous driving and interior cabin applications.
“Combining NVIDIA accelerated compute and AI capabilities with Magna’s extensive automotive expertise and innovation, we aim to explore new standards for next-generation software-defined vehicle intelligence and autonomy,” Vice President of Technology Strategy Steven Jenkins said in the press release. “Our collaboration allows us to develop market applications for AI-powered solutions that could redefine the driving experience and address the evolving demands of the automotive industry.”
What BlackLine does: BlackLine drives digital finance with a platform that enables unified and accurate data, optimized processes and real-time insight through visibility, automation and AI.
AI innovation at BlackLine: In May, Blackline announced the expansion of its AI systems with AI agents. A press release from the company noted: “BlackLine’s expanded AI capabilities, including AI agents, are natively integrated into the BlackLine platform, delivering automation and intelligence across key processes in the record-to-report and invoice-to-cash cycles.”
“For more than 20 years, BlackLine has been the trusted innovation partner for the Office of the CFO,” Co-CEO and Chairman of the Board Owen Ryan said in a press release. “Our differentiated AI approach helps customers accelerate time to value and make smarter decisions — without compromising data integrity. The Office of the CFO runs on trust, and trust begins with clean, reliable data. By ensuring data quality at the source, we empower CFOs to lead with speed, precision, and confidence.”
What Upstart does: Upstart was founded 12 years ago to improve access to affordable credit through the application of AI.
AI innovation at Upstart: Upstart is using AI to try and make lending more accessible through an AI-powered lending platform that facilitates loans based on employment and education, rather than solely income and credit scores. Each year, it evaluates its personal loan model in comparison to a more “traditional” model. Upstart uses an approach to creating fairer lending practices through a method called “adversarial debiasing.”
A blog on the company’s website noted: “Upstart has innovated on this standard adversarial debiasing approach by reimagining it as an offset to our main AI model. We call it the ‘Universal LDA’ framework. First, we train the main model solely for accuracy. Once those predictions are fixed, a separate adjuster model is trained using adversarial debiasing, balancing fidelity to the original predictions with the goal of keeping the adversary model from detecting bias.”
What Applied Systems does: Applied Systems develops cloud-based software for the insurance industry to automate and simplify agency and brokerage operations.
AI innovation at Applied Systems: AI has enormous potential to automate claims processing and make insurance more streamlined, which is why the company is bringing Applied Book Builder to market this year to help agencies find upsell opportunities. Chief Product Officer Anupam Gupta said in a blog on the company’s website, “By tapping into thousands of publicly available sources, Applied Book Builder enriches commercial risk profiles and identifies coverage gaps within existing policies, saving countless hours of manual research and data entry, and enabling you to focus on higher-value tasks like maximizing the value of every account and growing the business.”
What Fluidra North America does: Fluidra North America is a global company in the pool and wellness industry that develops solutions in areas like energy efficiency, robotics and the Internet of Things.
AI Innovation at Fluidra North America: Fluidra is partnering up with Lynxight, a company that applies AI to pool cameras to detect if someone is drowning or experiencing another emergency.
Director of Innovation David Tapias at Fluidra noted in a press release that: “With this investment, Fluidra will benefit from state-of-the-art technology, thus expanding its digital services for commercial pools. Our partnership with Lynxight is a major step forward in ensuring that every swimmer can enjoy water with confidence and security.”
What Tapestry does: Tapestry is a house of brands including Coach and Kate Spade, focused on modern luxury and lifestyle products.
AI innovation at Tapestry: Tapestry is leaning into the use of AI across the brand’s landscape. The company is using generative AI in the descriptions of retail products, an internal ChatGPT to answer employee questions and AI to support coding. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is using generative AI coding tools and has seen roughly 10 to 20 percent efficiency gains from its use of GitHub Copilot. Yang Lu, the chief information officer at Tapestry, was quoted in the article, saying, “We can get through more [coding] quicker and do more tests and learn quicker. Like, how much time do you spend debugging because you put the bracket in the wrong place? That’s the sort of time spent that’s unnecessary.”
What Chamberlain Group does: Chamberlain Group is an intelligent access company that develops the technology for IoT solutions that comprise a myQ ecosystem that delivers seamless, secure, access to people’s homes and businesses.
AI innovation at Chamberlain Group: Chamberlain Group is expanding the myQ product with AI enhancement in the myQ outdoor battery camera and video doorbell. A blog on the company’s website explained the technical advances: “What sets these products apart isn’t just the hardware, but the intelligence behind them. Through smart detection, customizable alerts and our new Smart Secure feature, myQ doesn’t just notify you when something happens. It can take action, such as automatically locking doors or closing your garage based on what it sees. We call this proactive security, and we believe it’s the future of smart home monitoring.”
What CDW does: CDW delivers IT solutions and services to business, government, education and healthcare customers.
AI innovation at CDW: CDW uses AI as a tool on its dev team strategically and with precision. Even Microsoft took notice and wrote a case study detailing how the team deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to 10,000 employees, enabling 77 percent to complete tasks faster and increasing productivity for 85 percent of users.
CDW also conducts its own AI research. In early 2025, CDW surveyed IT leaders and found that 62 percent thought their companies had good ideas for AI but had a hard time executing it.
In the report, Joe Markwith, CDW’s chief strategist for mastering operational Al transformation, said, “This is not just a business problem. This is not just a use case problem. This is a kitchen table conversation. This is impacting our kids, our families, how we move through society, our economy, currency, trade. Everything is being impacted by this technology.It’s a massive transformation beyond just the use cases and the roles that we have in our day jobs. We try to create that sense of urgency that’s not just about our jobs or our businesses. It’s about where we’re going as people — in society and globally.”
What PwC does: PwC is a global firm offering assurance, tax and consulting services.
AI innovation at PwC: PwC is not only using AI, the company is publishing well-cited studies on it. For example, in the 28th Annual Global CEO Survey the team found that half of CEOs expect generative AI to increase their company profitability over the next year. The report also noted that the company is keeping pace with how quickly AI is developing over the next few decades — likely surpassing the progress of the last century in a tenth of that time. The report estimates that AI’s market and business impact could reach $1 trillion to $2 trillion by 2030.
Deanna Byrne, U.S. assurance leader noted: “As organizations increasingly adopt AI to drive innovation, transform operations and unlock new sources of value, it is becoming integral to decision-making across industries, and the need for trust has never been greater.”
What monday.com does: monday.com is a work operating system that enables teams to run projects and workflows.
AI innovation at monday.com: In February, monday.com announced that AI will be built into the product to help with workflow automations. “Monday.com’s AI Vision is not just about adding new features; it’s about reimagining how work gets done, unlocking infinite possibilities and empowering businesses to scale like never before” Chief Product and Technology Officer Daniel Lereya said in a press release. “With a majority of our customers in non-tech industries, they’re looking to us to lead them through the AI transformation. Our productization of AI ensures that intelligence serves our customers and not the other way around.”
What BAE Systems, Inc does: BAE Systems, Inc. is a aerospace, defense and security company.
AI innovation at BAE Systems, Inc: Through the company’s Advanced Analytics Lab, the team is moving technologies from the lab to operations through AWS, and offering BAE Systems, Inc.’s machine learning and data labeling-as-a-service to customers through the AWS Marketplace for GovCloud in the United States. “BAE Systems is continually innovating in the areas of AI, ML and data science services,” Dr. Don Widener, chief technology officer for BAE Systems’ Intelligence Solutions business, said in a post on the company’s website. “Our suite of AI tools help analysts sift through large quantities of data, signals and imagery.”
What Udemy does: Udemy is a global marketplace for learning and teaching online.
AI innovation at Udemy: Udemy teams are building and using AI to shape how learners navigate courses for continuous learning. Now the demand to share AI knowledge is only growing. According to the company’s Q2 2023 Global Workplace Learning Index, there is an increased demand for semiconductor and generative AI skills from non-tech sector students. “We are in the midst of a shift to a skills-based economy where organizations are identifying the skills available within their teams and addressing any gaps,” Caoimhe Carlos, vice president of global customer success at Udemy, noted in a blog on the company’s website,sharing the finding.
What EZ Texting does: EZ Texting offers a text marketing platform that helps businesses engage their audiences through SMS campaigns.
AI innovation at EZ Texting: The product team at EZ Texting is building AI options into the platform. The AI Compose tool lets customers use generative AI for marketing campaigns and more. A product page on the company website notes, “AI Compose generates creative and engaging content, allowing your team to focus on strategy and customer relationships rather than content generation.” EZ Texting also offers the AI Reply tool, which can create personalized responses to customer messages.
What JPMorganChase does: JPMorganChase is a global financial services firm providing investment banking, asset management and consumer financial services.
AI innovation at JPMorganChase: JPMorganChase’s AI tools recently saw headlines after guiding clients in response to investment strategies with the tariffs from the Trump administration. “In the last few weeks, there have been several fluctuations in the market which are not in normal bite sizes, making it very complicated to think about all your clients and all the things required to do,” Mary Erdoes, JPMorganChase’s CEO of asset and wealth management, told Reuters. The same article also detailed the impact that generative AI has had on the workforce and on sales at the company, noting that gross sales between 2023 and 2024 increased by 20 percent.
What FourKites does: FourKites combines real-time digital twins of orders, shipments, inventory and assets with AI-powered digital workers to help companies prevent disruptions, automate routine tasks, and optimize performance across their supply chain.
AI innovation at FourKites: FourKites is charging headfirst into the agentic AI space with supply chain digital workers, the first of which are called Sam and Tracy. “Co-innovating and implementing the digital worker, Tracy, has helped Unilever teams in the United States make our supply chain management more efficient. Within four weeks, we observed notable improvements to exception management and tracking quality,” Shwetha Balagali, senior manager of logistics North America, capabilities and excellence, shared in a press release. “Tracy provides useful information and streamlines processes for our teams by proactively identifying risks, coordinating with carriers, and taking immediate action. This allows our people to focus on strategic initiatives.” In May, FourKites announced the launch of Alan, a scheduling AI agent meant to take on logistics through different communication channels, even outside of a scheduling system.
What Anduril does: Anduril builds defense technology for military and border protection operations.
AI innovation at Anduril: Anduril is making noteworthy partnerships with big tech. The company announced in December 2024 that it would partner with OpenAI. “Anduril builds defense solutions that meet urgent operational needs for the United States and allied militaries,” Brian Schimpf, co-founder & CEO of Anduril Industries, said in a statement. “Our partnership with OpenAI will allow us to utilize their world-class expertise in artificial intelligence to address urgent Air Defense capability gaps across the world.”
In May, the company also announced a partnership with Meta to “design, build, and field a range of integrated extended reality products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception and enable intuitive control of autonomous platforms on the battlefield.” In a company press release, Founder of Anduril Palmer Luckey said: “I am glad to be working with Meta once again. Of all the areas where dual-use technology can make a difference for America, this is the one I am most excited about. My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers, and the products we are building with Meta do just that.”
What Motive does: Motive provides a fleet management platform for physical operations.
AI innovation at: In April, Motive announced the launch of a new suite of AI tools that have a wide range of applications, like reducing collisions, an AI assistant for time-sensitive issues and fraud detection. “Our mission is to empower the people who run physical operations with AI-powered tools that make their work safer, more productive and more profitable,” Shoaib Makani, co-founder and CEO, said in a press release. “At Vision 25, we showed how Motive is using AI to break down silos between safety, operations and finance teams and replace manual workflows with intelligent automation.”
What Navan does: Navan is a corporate travel and expense software company that aims to make travel and expense easy.
AI innovation at Navan: Navan’s AI travel agents are leading agentic AI models. According to the company’s website, “the GenAI-powered travel agent processes over 150,000 chats monthly, resolving more than half of customer inquiries without human intervention — while receiving customer satisfaction scores that rival human agents.”
What Lowe’s does: Lowe’s is a home improvement retail company.
AI innovation at Lowes: Lowe’s recently announced the launch of Mylow, an AI-powered tool for customers. Mylow uses natural language processing to answer customers’ questions, whenever and wherever they are, 24/7 on Lowes.com.
Shortly after launching Mylow, Lowe’s launched Mylow Companion, an AI tool for store associates that offers project know-how, product information and guidance for complex customer questions. The tool is accessible on the Zebra device associates already use. Today, it is live across Lowe’s 1,700 locations.
“The development and introduction of Mylow exemplifies the tech-forward vision of the Lowe’s brand,” Lowe’s Senior Vice President of Technology Chandhu Nair said in a press release. “We’re doubling down with emerging technology collaborators like OpenAI to solve problems for our customers and because we want the home improvement experience at Lowe’s to be a cut above.”
What Airwallex does: Airwallex is the global payments and financial platform for growing businesses.
AI innovation at Airwallex: Airwallex is using AI internally across its entire organization, streamlining operations from customer feedback analysis and regulatory compliance to automated onboarding processes. On the external front, the company is building out Agentic Finance to “move beyond SaaS, delivering not just finance infrastructure, but actual finance work.”
If you are looking for a job where you can make a big impact on AI models, Airwallex shared this about the company culture: “At Airwallex, engineers become domain experts and help shape the product roadmap. Leadership encourages exploration — many of our most impactful projects originate from team members who see a complex challenge and are empowered to act on it.”
