we thought AI would kick down indian service companies and that genai startups would go straight for the client and wipe the middlemen out. but, something far more hilariously ironic happened. startups like cognition aren’t hunting clients at all. they’re selling to infosys. infosys then pitches them to hundreds of enterprises. instant distribution. zero relationship building and entire GTM cycles skipped. i’ve seen this repeat across multiple valley unicorns. i’m seeing it even at the sf startup i work at right now. somehow, the very inefficiency and anti-innovation inertia of WITCH is what keeps them relevant. they don’t move fast, but they still own solid relationships with other enterprises. crazy how that worked out.