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title: "The Ascent: Summit Partners’ Quarterly Newsletter - Q3 2026"
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|   A year ago, the most frequent questions we discussed with portfolio company leadership teams were focused on what the latest models could do. Halfway through 2026, the more useful question is sharper: where is AI actually creating durable value? AI infrastructure is scaling at a historic pace, agentic technology is commercializing faster than many anticipated, and usage is accelerating, yet value capture remains uneven across industries and companies. In our view, the primary challenge for growth-stage businesses today is no longer access to AI, it is implementing it well. In this issue of The Ascent, we share our perspective on these developments and highlight how Summit Partners portfolio companies are working to move AI initiatives into production and translate that progress into stronger products, smarter operations and tangible customer value.   AI Trends: What Leaders Need to Know This Quarter Summit’s Head of AI, Ashwin Subramani, and members of Summit Partners’ AI, Technology and Data Science team share five developments we believe growth-stage leaders should track this quarter as they work to move AI from promising pilots to dependable production. Read More→ Disciplined Decision-Making in the Age of AI The companies getting the most from AI often aren't those with the best tools; in our view, they are the ones who clearly define which decisions AI should help improve. Here, we share a practical framework for turning AI investment into decisive action. Read More→ Making AI Work in Healthcare: A Framework for Growth-Stage Leaders AI has the potential to drive meaningful clinical and operational improvements across the healthcare sector. Here, we share perspective on how leaders of growth-stage healthcare companies can evaluate, prioritize and implement AI initiatives to help deliver measurable results. Read More→ Navigating AI in the Office of the CFO This year, we have seen many CFOs and finance teams move past the initial challenge of getting started with AI and turn focus to scaling it thoughtfully and demonstrating potential return on investment. Read more for ideas and considerations to move your finance organization forward with confidence. Read More→ Summit Partners & Portfolio News Keyfactor Announces $1B+ Strategic Growth Investment Led by Summit Partners Read More→   Runpod Raises $100M to Accelerate the AI Developer Cloud Read More→   Quantifind Announces $200M Growth Investment Read More→   Summit-backed Doctrine, a Legaltech Leader, to be Acquired by RELX Group Read More→   HyperLight Raises $80M Series C to Accelerate TFLN Deployment for AI Infrastructure Read More→   AI Advancements in the Summit Partners Portfolio Klaviyo Expands Integration with Anthropic to Bring Agentic Marketing Workflows to Claude Klaviyo Read More→   Later Debuts Creator AEO to Help Creator Content Win in AI Answer Engines Later Read More→   Akeneo Acquires PricingHUB to Extend Product Cloud into AI-Driven Pricing Akeneo Read More→   StackAdapt Pilots In-Chat Advertising with New ChatGPT Ads Integration StackAdapt Read More→   Syndigo Acquires Taggstar to Make Product Experiences Dynamic and Contextual Syndigo Read More→   Last Issue's Most Clicked AI-Accelerated Software Development: A Guide for Growth Leaders Navigating the AI Shift AI coding tools are reshaping how software gets built. The question for teams is no longer whether to adopt them, but how to get the most out of them. Tim Kohn shares a practical framework for building the workflows and culture that can drive lasting impact. Read More→ Insights to Support Growth Explore perspectives, growth strategies and stories informed and inspired by our experiences working with companies and teams across the Summit Partners portfolio. Visit Resources →     The content herein reflects the views and opinions of Summit Partners and is intended solely for current executives of Summit Partners portfolio companies, as well as executives and operators who are considering a partnership with Summit Partners. The information herein has not been independently verified by a third-party. The content is intended solely for informational and discussion purposes and is not intended to provide legal, business, tax, accounting, investment or other advice. This newsletter does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation, recommendation or solicitation of an offer to buy any interests in any Summit product or any other security or investment product in any jurisdiction. The inclusion of any particular investments in this newsletter is not intended to reflect the merits of such investment or any other investment currently held by Summit. There is no guarantee that Summit will be able to invest in similar opportunities in the future. A complete list of publicly disclosed investments may be found here. Any reference to "expertise,""expert," or similar descriptions of knowledge or proficiency reflects the subjective assessment of Summit Partners and is intended solely to indicate familiarity with a subject area. Such characterizations may not imply formal credentialing, licensure, or any objectively verified standard of proficiency, and should not be construed or relied upon as an indication of future outcomes. In recent years, technological advances have fueled the rapid growth of AI, in particular generative AI, and accordingly, the use of AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in many sectors. Due to the rate at which AI is improving and the pace at which its potential applications are broadening, at this time, it is unclear what impact AI may have on portfolio companies, as well as on the wider financial sector. The impact of and risks associated with AI vary significantly by company, sub-sector, regulatory environment, capital availability and technological evolution. Use of third-party and open-source AI tools, such as ChatGPT or similar tools, by Summit or its portfolio companies, poses additional risks relating to the protection of Summit and its portfolio companies’ proprietary data, including the potential exposure of such confidential information to unauthorized recipients and misuse of the third-party intellectual property, which could adversely affect Summit or its portfolio companies. Use of AI tools may result in allegations or claims against Summit or its portfolio companies related to violation of third-party intellectual property rights, unauthorized access to or use of proprietary information and failure to comply with open-source software requirements. Additionally, AI tools may produce inaccurate, misleading or incomplete responses that could lead to errors in certain business activities, which could have a negative impact on Summit or its portfolio companies. Further, ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to AI generally or AI’s use in any particular industry may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the ability of Summit or its portfolio companies to utilize AI in the manner they have to date, and may have an adverse impact on their ability to continue to operate as intended. Published July 2026. The Ascent is a quarterly newsletter from Summit Partners, focused on sharing insights and practical strategies for building growth companies. You received this email because you are a leader within the Summit Partners Network or you have subscribed to receive updates from Summit Partners. Please click here to update your subscription preferences. Unsubscribe from all future emails Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here. Copyright ©2026 Summit Partners, L.P. All rights reserved. Summit Partners 222 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116 |
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