Goldman Sachs TMT Conference: Wall Street "Enthusiastic" About AI

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At the Goldman Sachs Annual Technology Conference, artificial intelligence became the absolute focal point, not only igniting the enthusiasm of investors but also drawing a clear dividing line within the tech industry between the “haves” and “have-nots.” Companies at the forefront of AI infrastructure, chips, and core model development are enjoying intense market attention, while other firms face immense pressure to prove the value of their AI strategies.

At the three-day “Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference” held in San Francisco this week, the most eye-catching market movement didn’t come from the upcoming IPO boom, but rather from a 48-year-old tech giant. Oracle shares jumped sharply due to a forecast that its future contract revenue would soar by 359%, most of which is attributed to a deal with OpenAI. This event vividly demonstrated AI’s direct, explosive effect on market valuations.

The excitement inside the conference venue also confirmed this. Presentations by Nvidia and OpenAI became the hottest activities at the event. The main banquet hall was packed to capacity 20 minutes before their talks began, and investors even needed to fill three spillover rooms. In contrast, even the presentations from Meta and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) only filled two rooms. This sharp difference visually reflects the current focus of Wall Street capital.

For companies not directly building AI data centers, producing AI chips, or developing AI models, the conference atmosphere was far less optimistic. Especially for software makers, their progress—or lack thereof—in AI is under strict investor scrutiny. The message from Wall Street is clear: show your AI monetization capabilities, or risk being ignored by the market.

The AI Divide: Two Extremes in Tech Stocks

This conference highlighted the massive polarization within the tech industry caused by AI. For companies directly involved in the AI wave, participants were enthusiastic, while for others—especially traditional software makers—a mood of caution or even pessimism prevailed.

“We are at a stage where software companies feel they must quickly change their narrative, because customers are demanding it,” said Matt Lucas, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs’ Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking Division. These companies are under the spotlight, and their progress in AI is being rigorously examined.

Although Goldman Sachs Managing Director and Software Analyst Kash Rangan stated amicably on stage, “AI won’t kill software, in fact it will make the software industry flourish,” investors in the audience clearly did not share this enthusiasm. Several investors said their questions for software makers are very simple and straightforward: How are your customers using your AI features? Are they paying for them, or will they start paying soon?

Monetization Pathways: From Cloud Services to Dating Apps

Facing investors’ “AI grilling,” some companies are beginning to provide specific answers, showing clear pathways to turn AI into revenue.

Thomas Kurian, head of Google Cloud, attracted everyone’s attention as he made it clear that Google “has already made billions of dollars through AI,” and described in detail how the company profits via AI infrastructure and agent products. Nearly every slide he presented was photographed by audience members, demonstrating the market’s eagerness for clear cases of AI monetization.

Other companies are also working hard to prove their AI value. Customer interaction software-maker Twilio discussed in a closed-door meeting how its AI agent tools use features such as text-to-speech to boost revenue. A spokesperson said, “As of last quarter, the ten largest AI startup clients we’ve acquired in the past three years each have annualized revenue reaching six figures, and some have exceeded seven figures.”

Grindr CEO George Arison said that its latest AI feature will scan all conversations on the site to generate a list of “hot prospects” for paid users, thereby driving its premium subscription service. As Matt Lucas noted: “Companies are still exploring how and at what pace AI will change their businesses, and this is causing some strategic tension within software companies.”

Data Infrastructure: The “Pick-and-Shovel Sellers” of the AI Boom

Amid all the scrutiny over AI monetization capabilities, one type of company has received the unreserved favor of investors: database companies. Firms like Databricks, Snowflake, and MongoDB enjoyed star treatment at the event.

Their role in the AI ecosystem is clear and critical: supporting AI infrastructure, and classifying, querying, and analyzing the massive amounts of data generated by AI. As the “pick-and-shovel sellers” in the AI gold rush, their value has been fully recognized by the market.

Performance in the capital markets confirms this. Since the beginning of this year, Snowflake’s stock price is up 43%, MongoDB’s up 37%. Meanwhile, Databricks recently completed a $1 billion round of financing and disclosed its AI product’s annualized revenue has exceeded $1 billion. The market’s enthusiasm for these data infrastructure companies reflects the fact that in the AI era, data processing capability is seen as one of the most core assets.

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