TL;DR

Glean, now valued at $7.2 billion, is positioning itself as the AI infrastructure layer for enterprises — sitting beneath other AI tools, connecting internal systems, managing permissions, and delivering intelligence across organisations. CEO Arvind Jain argues this platform approach will win against tech giants bundling AI into existing products.

From search to AI work assistant

Glean started as an enterprise search product but has evolved into what it calls an “AI work assistant.” The company raised $150 million last June and is now competing directly with Microsoft and Google, both of which are integrating AI capabilities into their existing enterprise suites.

Speaking on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast at Web Summit Qatar, Jain outlined the distinction: while tech titans bundle AI features into products like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Glean aims to be the underlying platform that connects to all internal systems regardless of vendor.

The enterprise AI debate

The conversation highlighted several tensions shaping enterprise AI adoption. Companies are wrestling with whether to rely on bundled AI from their existing vendors or invest in independent platform layers that work across multiple systems.

Permissions and governance emerged as harder problems than most companies recognise. As AI agents begin to perform tasks rather than just answer questions, controlling what they can access and do within an organisation becomes a significant challenge.

Looking forward

The race to own enterprise AI infrastructure is intensifying. Whether the winner is a platform-agnostic layer like Glean or bundled offerings from Microsoft and Google will likely depend on how quickly organisations standardise their AI architecture — and how much they value vendor independence.