The Custom GPT Investment Thesis
Investment Thesis: The GPT Agency & Tooling Wave
Core Premise
The next decade of AI adoption won’t be driven by frontier model innovation — it will be driven by distribution and adaptation.
Custom GPTs are the new “websites of the LLM era”: every brand, institution, and creator will need one.
Just as the 2000s created the web agency boom and 2010s the MarTech SaaS wave, the 2020s–30s will create the GPT agency + tooling ecosystem.
I. Building Custom GPTs — The New Application Layer
Thesis
Custom GPTs are not a feature — they are a platform abstraction layer over foundation models, where differentiation happens through:
Data integration (brand/product/CRM)
Prompt architecture
Compliance and governance
Measurable outcomes (conversion, retention, cost savings)
Each GPT instance becomes a living agent representing a brand, function, or dataset.
Market Drivers
Corporate AI Shift: From “chatbot experiments” to owned AI assets that interact with customers, employees, and partners.
Consumer Shift: 40%+ of product and health discovery is now conversational (Rufus, Perplexity, ChatGPT Browse).
Ecosystem Shift: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are turning GPT builders into no-code app stores.
Comparable Archetypes
Historical AnalogyModern GPT AnalogyShopify storeBrandGPT instanceWordPress siteCustom GPT workspaceSalesforce appGPT plugin / agent
Investment Focus Areas
Multi-modal GPTs (voice, image, video, AR interfaces)
Domain-specialized GPT frameworks (medical, legal, e-commerce, education)
Compliant GPT hosting & observability platforms
II. Agencies That Build GPTs — The Service-Led Layer
Thesis
AI-native agencies will do for GPTs what digital agencies did for websites: bridge creative, data, and technical worlds.
The first-movers in this space will establish durable client relationships and proprietary frameworks.
Why Now
Brand Confusion: Enterprises know they “need an AI,” but not how to deploy or govern it.
Proof over Hype: Agencies can demonstrate measurable uplifts — conversion + repeat purchase + support cost ↓ + launch velocity ↑.
Shortage of Internal Talent: Fine-tuning and governance require hybrid skills most companies don’t have.
Agency Value Stack
Strategy & Data Onboarding — What data feeds the GPT, how it’s governed.
Build & Training — Prompt architecture, reinforcement, safety alignment.
Analytics & Optimization — Dashboards for ROI: sales, engagement, latency, accuracy.
Compliance & Visibility — Audit trails, consent, and LLM visibility tracking (i.e. being “seen” by ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.)
High-ROI Verticals
Retail & CPG (personal shoppers, fit guides)
Beauty (routine matchers, shade finders)
Travel (concierge GPTs)
Finance (advisor GPTs with compliance guardrails)
Health & Pharma (patient support GPTs with certified content)
III. Tools That Help Build GPTs — The Infrastructure & SaaS Layer
Thesis
As thousands of GPT agencies emerge, the next gold rush will be developer + agency enablement tools — the “Shopify apps” of the GPT economy.
Tool Market Comparisons
Moats
Integration depth (CRM, commerce, support data)
Multi-LLM evaluation frameworks
Safety & compliance certifications
Network effects via brand ecosystem data
IV. Macro Indicators
V. Investment Framework
VI. Exit Opportunities
Strategic acquisitions by: OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe, Shopify.
Vertical rollups of GPT agencies by marketing networks (WPP, Publicis, Accenture).
SaaS IPOs for observability & governance layers (the “Datadog of GPTs”).
Summary
Thesis Statement:
Custom GPTs are the next internet interface layer. Agencies that build them and tools that empower them will define the next generation of digital infrastructure.
Invest now in:
Builders who create measurable, brand-safe GPTs.
Agencies that operationalize GPT creation at scale.
Toolmakers that abstract the complexity and govern the ecosystem.