AI Pulse · Business Models & Winners

Alice, an AI security vendor, has raised $140 million in a round led by Apax Digital, putting the company at an $800 million valuation. It says it is nearing $100 million in annual recurring revenue after growing more than 500% over two years, and that it works with eight of the top 10 AI model labs.

The important point is not just the funding round. It is where customers are willing to spend. As companies put foundation models into products, internal workflows and customer-facing systems, they also need ways to monitor risk, protect data and set rules around how those models behave. Trust, safety and security tooling is becoming a paid category in its own right, rather than an optional add-on.

For operators, this is a useful signal. The value in AI will not sit only with the companies building the underlying models. There is a growing layer of businesses helping companies use those models safely and reliably. If your team is rolling out AI tools, security and governance cannot be a last-minute review once the pilot is already live. Decide early what data can enter these systems, who can use them, what needs monitoring, and where human approval is required.

This is the kind of thing we build into an AI command centre, giving leaders a clearer view of where AI is being used and what controls sit around it.