Founder of a $12 billion AI startup says next-gen tech giants could operate with under 100 employees

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Good morning. Is it possible that tomorrow’s tech giants might all fit into one office building?

During a Monday panel at Nvidia’s GTC 2026 conference, Daniel Nadler, founder and CEO of OpenEvidence, forecasted that within a few years, certain of the globe’s most valuable firms would employ fewer than 100 people. Nadler commented that society isn’t ready for such a shift.

OpenEvidence provides AI-driven medical information and clinical decision support tools for doctors. The startup completed a $250 million Series D financing in January, jointly led by Thrive Capital and DST Global, which increased its valuation to about $12 billion.

Nadler noted that despite having fewer than 100 staff members, OpenEvidence will be used by physicians treating 300 million Americans this year. He calculated that every employee indirectly assists millions of patients.

He attributed this unprecedented scale to Jensen and Nvidia, along with the developers building on their technology, which has created a new foundation. He added that the global economy, particularly the technology sector, will become unrecognizable.

This sentiment is gaining traction among technology executives. OpenAI chief Sam Altman has stressed that AI serves as a collaborative tool enabling individuals and small groups to accomplish what previously needed much bigger companies, boosting both output and innovation. Financial technology firm Block recently declared it would reduce its workforce by 40% thanks to AI improvements. According to Block’s CFO and COO Amrita Ahuja, this move is part of a broader, two-year evolution. “This has been a two-year process,” she explained. “It wasn’t a sudden choice.”

According to recent McKinsey research, the emergence of hyper-efficient AI-powered teams may necessitate a complete overhaul of the workforce. The study suggests that to unlock AI’s full potential, companies must move past fragmented efforts and pursue a dual transformation—technological and structural—that involves rethinking work processes across departments. This will demand significant effort and planning, plus training and skill development for workers whose jobs could be transformed.

Although AI has the power to significantly boost efficiency, harnessing its complete capabilities remains a complicated and challenging endeavor for businesses of any scale.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@.com