Sep. 23 at 3:52 PM
💸 The AI efficiency rotation is the most interesting call on my feed: wave one was the builders, wave two is companies using AI to cut costs and expand margins. The last easy trade.
Directionally right. Incomplete.
AI margin expansion shows up in gross margin and headcount, not press releases. Real and underpriced.
What it misses: adoption is demand. Cutting costs with AI means buying from the buildout. Wave two funds wave one. Same dollar down the stack and back up.
🔎 Screen: rising gross margin, flat/falling headcount, cost base big enough that automation moves the needle.
$NOW agentic AI in support/engineering
$CRM revenue up while headcount flat
$AMZN sells compute + runs logistics
$GOOGL owns model/cloud while cutting cost
$META flat headcount, rising margins, own silicon
They all buy compute. Efficiency trade and buildout trade are the same trade, one floor apart.
