ai-native-software
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Ben Freeman Interviewed 300 Buyers. Then He Built the Software They Wanted
A teenage-events entrepreneur became an enterprise-software founder by treating curiosity as a job. Now the Omnea CEO is turning his company into a launchpad for the founders who may eventually leave it.
ASG
ASG has spent a decade buying the quiet software that keeps niche industries moving. Now, after more than 65 acquisitions, it is trying to turn a vertical-SaaS roll-up into an AI-native operating system.
Zaplar
Zaplar is a Stockholm-based, Y Combinator (S26) startup building an AI-native operating system for hotels and event venues. Instead of stitching together the legacy hotel stack - PMS, POS, booking engine, CRS, RMS and MICE tools - Zaplar consolidates them into one platform where AI agents handle bookings, guest messaging, RFPs, event planning and follow-ups. Staff review and approve the agents' suggested actions, so hoteliers keep control while spending less time in front of a screen.
Mark Hurley
Mark Hurley is the co-founder and CEO of Caruso, an AI-native fund administration and registry platform for private markets that spun out of a property fund business in 2023 and now administers roughly $80 billion in assets across 900-plus funds. A serial New Zealand entrepreneur, he earlier built the digital agency Little Giant (sold to Dentsu Aegis Network in 2017) and co-founded the fractional commercial real estate firm Jasper in 2019. He splits his time between Auckland and Dallas and is an active early-stage investor in companies including Tracksuit, Sharesies and First AML.