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Runpoint: AI Business Transformation Podcast

2025 AI Recap & 2026 Predictions: Winners, Losers, and What's Actually Working

02 January 2026 41:09 Runpoint Partners

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About this episode

Happy New Year! In this episode, Matthew and Sam break down what actually happened in AI during 2025 and make predictions for what's coming in 2026.

We cover the biggest winners and losers, the apps and tools that changed how we work, who to follow for smart AI takes, what surprised us most, and where we think things are headed.

Key topics:
• Why companies that stayed curious won 2025
• OpenAI's fall from dominance to a three-horse race
• Claude Code and why it changed everything
• The tools we actually use daily (Whisper Flow, Granola, Cursor)
• Why vibe coded apps are passing enterprise code reviews
• Google's image generation breakthrough
• Our custom CRM build and the future of back office AI
• Why product managers are the winners of 2026
• The coming downfall of SaaS and low-skill trades

Plus: We launch our new Run Point Magazine and Sam accidentally emails hundreds of people.

🔗 Get the Run Point Magazine: [link]
🔗 Subscribe to our newsletter: [link]

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## Chapters

0:00 - Intro & Happy New Year
0:39 - Biggest Winner of 2025: Curious Companies
2:16 - Claude Code Changed Everything
4:04 - Biggest Loser of 2025: AI Resisters
5:25 - Why OpenAI Lost Ground in 2025
7:07 - Best App of 2025: Claude Code & Whisper Flow
9:17 - Granola, Transcripts & the Transcript-to-Action Pattern
10:29 - Why Cursor Won the IDE Wars
11:33 - Best Thinkers to Follow: Tyler Cowen & Twitter Curation
14:40 - The Run Point Magazine Launch (and Email Disaster)
17:17 - Biggest Surprise: Enterprise-Grade Vibe Coded Apps
20:35 - Google's Image Generation Breakthrough
22:53 - Best Thing We Built: The AI-Powered CRM
27:08 - Worst Things We Built: Complex RAG Systems
28:52 - 2026 Predictions: Product Managers Win Big
30:37 - 2026 Loser Prediction: Half of SaaS Dies
32:28 - Why Low-Skill Home Services Are in Trouble
35:04 - AGI Is Basically Here (Contrarian Take)
38:10 - Why "Vibe Coding" Will Get Rebranded
38:38 - 2026 Resolutions: Back Office AI & Continuous Learning
41:01 - Wrap Up

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