CB Insights profiled 59 founders and executives who helped scale billion-dollar companies and then started AI companies in 2025 or 2026. The 59 leaders launched 48 new companies, and the research firm mapped where each leader came from against what each is building now.

Enterprise software supplied the most leaders, with 17 of the 59. Twelve of them are building enterprise software again, two moved to financial services and insurance, two to supply chain and industrial, and one to AI development, high-performance computing, and chips. Enterprise software is also the most common destination overall, with 21 founders now building in it.

Financial services and insurance supplied 13 leaders. Eight of them are building in the same category, and the rest spread across enterprise software (2), healthcare and life sciences (2), and AI development and chips (1).

Consumer and retail supplied 11 leaders, and none of them are building consumer products now. Four moved to supply chain and industrial, four to enterprise software, one to financial services and insurance, and two to mobility, robotics, and hardware. Only one founder in the full group is building in consumer and retail, a former healthcare and life sciences leader.

CB Insights identified five of the new companies as already valued at $1 billion or more: Recursive Superintelligence, Core Automation, Astromech, Upscale AI, and Genki Robotics. The chart groups destinations into AI for business workflows, frontier and deep tech, and consumer.

Source: CB Insights - https://www.cbinsights.com/research/where-unicorn-leaders-see-ai/