Glean’s fight to own the AI layer inside every company 

Enterprise AI is shifting fast from chatbots that answer questions to systems that actually do the work across an organization. But who will own the AI layer that powers all of it? 

Glean, which started as an enterprise search product, has evolved into what it calls an “AI work assistant,” aiming to sit beneath other AI experiences, connecting to internal systems, managing permissions, and delivering intelligence wherever employees work. Investors are buying into the vision, too — last June, the startup raised $150 million at a $7.2 billion valuation as competition heats up against tech giants bundling AI. 

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Glean founder and CEO Arvind Jain at Web Summit Qatar to break down how enterprises are thinking about AI architecture, what’s driving consolidation, and what’s real versus hype in the AI agent space. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about: 

The fight between bundled AI from tech titans like Microsoft and Google, and platform layers like Glean and its competitors. 

How AI adoption is reshaping leadership and organizational design. 

Why permissions and governance are harder problems than most companies realize. 

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