Vanessa Larco, a partner at the well-regarded venture firm Premise, recently expressed ideas about the coming evolution of technology. She provided insights into how consumer expectations are shifting in line with these developments. It’s going to be a really explosive year for tech M&A in 2026, she says. It will be one of the most important times for progress in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
Larco’s view is timely, as enterprises of all stripes grow more enthusiastic in their efforts to adopt AI solutions to optimize their business processes and mindsets. She says, while many organizations want to begin the work, they often don’t know how to start. “Enterprises have big budgets and a frantic desire to implement AI solutions, but they often stall because they don’t know where to start,” she stated.
In her deep dive on emerging technologies, Larco shared her excitement about the possibilities that voice AI assistants have to offer. And her verdict on whether we’re anywhere close to seeing truly useful voice-enabled technologies? It’s “on the cusp of happening.” The consumer demand for more intuitive, hands-free ways to interact with devices has never been higher. This playbook transition reflects a larger regional and national trend surrounding technology adoption.
Larco’s interest in investing extends to startups that she believes will not be at risk of being overshadowed by giants like OpenAI. She called it imperative for new monetization strategies and business models to be developed that are consistent with the new digital consumer experience. Reddit and Digg and other platforms are putting their back into verifying all the unique, fascinating, user-generated stuff humans make. Larco is hopeful, though, about the opportunities that will exist for people to come in and replace AI-generated material.
The emergence of AI-generated content today has certainly caught the attention of Larco. She was feeling daunted by the tsunami of AI-generated video and imagery inundating our social media feeds. This bombardment led her to doubt the authenticity of a lot of what was shared on social media. “At that point, I was like, if I’m just gonna be watching AI-generated videos and photos, I want it to be funny,” she remarked.
Larco is particularly annoyed by an academic communication style. She says that “typing” on her phone is “archaic”. Her admiration for Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses demonstrates her appetite for forward-thinking technology that makes day-to-day life more convenient and productive. “These glasses allow me to answer phone calls, respond to messages, take photos and videos, and ask Meta AI questions without having to pull out my phone,” she explained.
As consumer behaviors continue to change, Larco believes that businesses need to respond and pivot faster than ever to serve new demands. “If you’re selling to consumers, you’ll know very quickly if it’s fitting a need or not, and you’ll know quickly whether you need to pivot or make some changes to your product or totally scrap it and start something totally different,” she said.
Larco can’t wait to see what lies ahead! That’s because they’re picturing AI delivering truly concierge-level services—an experience where technology is able to predict user needs and serve them seamlessly. “AI is gonna feel like concierge-like services, which will do everything for you that you have in mind,” she predicted.
Change is the only constant in the consumer technology landscape. Larco sees this as great opportunity for designers to explore new form factors that serve different use cases. “I think it’ll be really fun for designers because they finally get to pick and choose what form factor is better for what use cases,” she commented.
” I don’t think they’ll build an Airbnb competitor because I don’t think they’re gonna want to manage homes… I don’t think they’re going to build any of these marketplaces that require real humans because they don’t want to manage the humans,” she noted.
Larco, for one, hopes that 2026 will be measured by a new commitment to those consumers and the experiences we’re providing them. “This is gonna be the year of the consumer,” she declared, signaling a shift towards prioritizing user needs in technology development.