a15Ventures.com 01 COGNITIVE AI Build a DigitalDouble Organization Coordinated decisions with speed and confidence.
We do not replace the people who decide.
Digital Double Core PM Risk Compliance Ops Trader DD DD DD DD DD a15Ventures.com 02 COGNITIVE AI The problem
AI didn’t eliminate work — it overloaded decision‑makers. TRADING Complete the order? PORTFOLIO Add to the position? RESEARCH Act on the idea? RISK Lift the limit? OPERATIONS Rebook the allocation? COMPLIANCE Clear the trade? INVESTOR RELATIONS Answer the LP? LEGAL Sign the side letter? PM 5 decisions waiting Risk 5 decisions waiting CIO 5 decisions waiting Compliance 3 decisions waiting The overload
77% say AI has added to their workload among employees using AI
39% spend more time reviewing AI-generated content among employees using AI
The cost
$250M in wages lost every year manager time on ineffective decisions, typical Fortune 500
56% have to ask someone or book a meeting to get the information they need
Manager time: McKinsey, “Decision making in the age of urgency,” 2019 (n = 1,228). Asking: Atlassian, State of Teams 2025. AI workload: Upwork Research Institute & Workplace Intelligence, “From Burnout to Balance,” 2024 (n = 2,500; U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada).
a15Ventures.com 03 COGNITIVE AI The you gap
Every kind of workflow gets an AI tool,but the decision-making stays human. What firms get today
Still on you
Personal copilots Help the user with their own work — ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini.
In-app agents Automate tasks inside internal systems — CRM, OMS, ticketing.
Agent orchestration Routes work between agents —
only you understand the context only you know who and how to ask only you make decisions to act
The You Gap
Gartner, August 2025: 40% of enterprise apps will include task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up from under 5% in 2025.
a15Ventures.com 04 COGNITIVE AI The solution
We build a Double for each key person. Together they collaborate to prepare and make decisions on your behalf. DD Core DD PM DD Risk DD Compliance DD Ops DD Trader People Stay accountable. Make the calls that need them.
Doubles Calibrated on each person’s judgment.
DD Core One shared case, state and rulebook.
Enterprise systems PMS, OMS/EMS, risk, compliance, post-trade.
At 20 decision-makers: 190 possible conversations — or 20 connections to one DD Core. a15Ventures.com 05 COGNITIVE AI What a Double is made of
How do we build a Double? 1 Identity & values Validated personality and values instruments capture stable preferences, priorities and communication style.
Who you are 2 Expert judgment Structured interviews reconstruct real decisions: the cues, exceptions, risk trade-offs and what mattered.
How you decide 3 Memory & context Past decisions, corrections, outcomes and authorized enterprise context become a persistent, person-specific working model.
What you’ve lived 4 Fidelity benchmark Hold out unfamiliar cases; compare the Double with its host on decisions, reasons, consistency and correct escalation.
Proof, not promise Why it works · the science behind each layer
Big Five / HEXACO Stable traits predict real-world behaviour; 87% of tested links replicated. Soto, 2019 Critical Decision Method Recovers the tacit cues and trade-offs behind real expert calls. Klein, Calderwood & MacGregor, 1989
Simulacra & CoALA Memory, reflection and planning produce believable individual behaviour. Park et al., 2023 · Sumers et al., 2023 Agents of 1,052 people Interview-based agents matched people 85% as well as they matched themselves. Park et al., 2024 a15Ventures.com 06 COGNITIVE AI Personal operating layer
Your Double learns every and any other tool for you, so you don’t have to. The last AI interface you’ll ever need. Talk to one AI, in your own words. No prompt craft, no new interface per tool.
It operates the rest. Your Double drives the tools you already pay for.
Consult the right expertise The Double assembles the relevant human judgment, systems and precedent — instead of making you hunt for it.
Keep boundaries explicit Expert Doubles expose only the knowledge, decisions and workflows the company authorizes.
Email & calendar Research & docs ERP & CRM Risk & compliance Other agents Other people’s Doubles Data & analytics You Your Double Audit log who CRO · J. Rivera what approve limit change why inside risk policy 4.2 when 10:21:07 a15Ventures.com 07 COGNITIVE AI Our approach
Everyone copies your face or your knowledge. We copy your judgment. Representation Tavus · HeyGen · Synthesia
Face How you look and sound Knowledge Viven · Delphi · Glean
Files What you know and can retrieve Execution ServiceNow · Agentforce · UiPath
Agents What tools do when instructed Simulation Simile · Aaru
Crowds How populations behave Rehearsal Yoodli · Mursion · Second Nature
Practice Generic personas to rehearse with Cognitive AI Digital Double
Judgment How one specific person weighs trade-offs Where the day goes
37% of managers’ time goes to making decisions — and over half of it is used ineffectively.
57% of the working day goes to coordination — calls, meetings and ping-pong messaging.
What we copy: the insight of the call behind the action
Approve Push back Escalate Wait why & how McKinsey, “Decision making in the age of urgency,” 2019 (n = 1,228) · Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2023.
a15Ventures.com 08 COGNITIVE AI Verified need
6 target verticals. 100 interviews. 9.7M potential Doubles in the US. Investment & wealth mgmt 677K / 14 professionals· interviews Hedge funds and asset managers RIAs and family offices Investment committees Management & strategy 1.08M / 5 professionals· interviews Strategy and operations boutiques IT and implementation consulting HR and change advisory Legal 1.37M / 22 professionals· interviews Mid-size law firms In-house legal teams Regulatory and compliance practices Accounting and tax 1.60M / 3 professionals· interviews PE-backed CPA platforms Tax and audit review Advisory and transaction services Insurance 1.11M / 11 professionals· interviews Commercial underwriting MGAs and specialty carriers Claims and reinsurance Executive teams 3.89M / 45 professionals· interviews Founder-led companies CEO and chief of staff office PE portfolio leadership US jobs, 2025. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (updated Aug 2026): Investment & wealth = financial and investment analysts 377,200 + personal financial advisors 299,400 · Management & strategy = management analysts 1,077,100 · Accounting = accountants and auditors 1,595,200 · Insurance = insurance sales agents 572,600 + claims adjusters, examiners and investigators 376,100 + insurance underwriters 125,600 + actuaries 31,200 · Executive teams = top executives 3,890,600 (chief executives 291,600 + general and operations managers 3,599,000). Legal = lawyers 1,374,720 (ABA Profile of the Legal Profession 2025). Total 9.72M.
a15Ventures.com 09 COGNITIVE AI Differentiator
We calibrate your Double to make your exact judgment calls;rehearse and test to earn the right to act. Calibrates 2-hour interview + reliability tests Watches predicts your calls, touches nothing Suggests you compare its call with yours Earns the sign-off passed the war games: 86% matched · 0 violations Acts within limits inside your authority matrix, every action logged your bar 01 BUILD A MEMORY BANK 02 REHEARSE · WORKFLOW GYM 03 TEST · SIMULATION STUDIO 04 RELEASE · GOVERNED ACTION
Approve a 12% discount on the Acme renewal? It falls 2 points below the margin floor.
Finance DD: inside the quarterly budget Legal DD: standard terms apply A Approve 12%, escalate to the CFO
B Offer 9%, stay at the floor
C Wait for the quarter-end review
You chose B in 7 of 9 similar cases
Approve B
CRO’s Double authority matrix
What it may do on its own
Approves orders up to $5M
Drafts broker & vendor terms
Suggests limit headroom
Escalates limit headroom
Watches allocations
Never investor disclosures
Every action logged
CRO’s Double Simulation Studio
Every call tested before it acts
The Mirror you vs. your Double
Strategy mtng. under full pressure
86% matched · 0 violations
Release with sign-off
Shadowing your communication channels
78% match
a15Ventures.com 10 COGNITIVE AI itsbettertogether.io · Workflow Simulator
a15Ventures.com 11 COGNITIVE AI People & clients Stay accountable
PM Risk Compliance Finance Operations Clients
Your private cloud (AWS · Azure · GCP) · full data isolation · AES-256 at rest · TLS 1.3 · customer-managed keys
Digital Doubles One per person
Memory Core what they have seen
Control model limits and permissions
Reflections how they judge
Pattern tables how they process
DD Core Shared state
Decision case graph one case per decision
Workflow engine durable state and handoffs
Simulation Studio rehearse before release
Connectors Scoped and approved
Scoped read only the data its role needs
Approved write-back within its owner’s limits
Client channel client replies within set limits
Full audit trail who, what, why and when
Your systems Already in place
ERP CRM Risk Compliance Data warehouse Chat · email
Security Zero-trust
Identity SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning · instant revocation of access
Personal memory seen only by you and people you authorize · every access traced
Assurance third-party penetration tests · built toward SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR
Your IP zero public training · models and decision graphs stay your IP
a15Ventures.com 12 COGNITIVE AI Landscape & competition
Trusted digital collaborators, Acts Advises Task-level · generic Decision-level · proven to judge like you Assistants & copilots Service & sales agents Agent & automation platforms Knowledge & search Population simulators Role-play & training sims Knowledge twins Decision intelligence Coaching platforms Consulting Digital Double research Learns Consults experts Simulates workflows Governed writes One interface
Microsoft Copilot · Gemini Horizontal copilots Partial — — Partial Partial
Glean · Moveworks · Rovo Enterprise knowledge assistants — Partial — — Partial
ServiceNow · Salesforce · UiPath Workflow and agent platforms — Partial Partial Partial —
Viven · Delphi Person-shaped knowledge bots Partial Partial — — Partial
Digital Double Cognitive decision layer
Assessment based on each product’s public capabilities, October 2026.
a15Ventures.com 13 COGNITIVE AI Market size
Market, sized bottom-up from senior experts. TAM Senior experts, six US verticals 2.43M senior decision-makers × $25k per Double
SAM First wave: investment & wealth, insurance, accounting, legal 1.19M senior decision-makers × $25k
SOM Year-4 ARR 1,997 Doubles across 165 enterprise accounts × $25k — about 0.17% of SAM
First wedge: asset management Documented authority limits, high-consequence decisions and measurable coordination cost.
TAM $61B SAM $30B SOM $50M
Base: 9.72M US professionals across six verticals, 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, updated Aug 2026; ABA Profile of the Legal Profession 2025 — detail on slide 8). Plan assumption: 1 in 4 is a senior decision-maker. TAM 9.72M × 25% = 2.43M × $25k = $61B. SAM = investment & wealth 0.68M + insurance 1.11M + accounting 1.60M + legal 1.37M = 4.75M × 25% = 1.19M × $25k = $30B. SOM = year-4 base case.
a15Ventures.com 14 COGNITIVE AI Expand within one account
$250k Year 1 10 Doubles $375k Year 2 15 Doubles $500k Year 3 20 Doubles $600k Year 4 24 Doubles 2.4× account expansion · ~135% net revenue retention · $25k per Double
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Active accounts 3 16 60 165
Active Doubles 30 171 680 1,997
Company ARR $0.75M $4.3M $17.0M $50M
$50M ARR · 1,997 Doubles · 165 accounts, net of 8% churn
Gross margin
70% $17.5k gross profit
$25k price per Double
CAC per account
$150k 10 mo to pay back CAC
$250k first-year ACV
4-year gross LTV
$1.04M $150k CAC per account
7× LTV / CAC
Customer ROI
3× 9 hrs a week lost to ineffective decisions
6 hrs saved net of the base
Base case — plan assumptions, not results. Benchmark: Bessemer AI “Shooting Stars” average ~$3M → $12M → $40M → $103M ARR in years 1–4 (State of AI 2025); a16z median enterprise AI startup $2.1M ARR at month 12; enterprise NRR median ~118%, top quartile ~130%. New accounts 3 + 13 + 45 + 110, 8% of accounts lost each year (active 3 → 16 → 60 → 165). Each account: a paid PoC of 4–6 Doubles becomes a team of 10 in year 1, then 15 → 20 → 24 Doubles; net revenue retention 138% → 134% → 132%. CAC: $75k forward-deployed PoC + $75k sales and marketing = $150k; payback $150k ÷ ($250k × 70%) ≈ 10 mo. LTV: 70% × ($250k + $375k + $500k + $600k), churn-weighted = $1.04M. ROI: $250k salary at 70% of total pay (BLS) = $360k; $25k = 3 of 42 hrs; 37% of time on decisions × 58% ineffective (McKinsey) = 9 hrs; 9 − 3 = 6 hrs net, 9 ÷ 3 = 3×; at 50% recovery, 1.5×.
a15Ventures.com 15 COGNITIVE AI The moat
The moat is the company’s decision graph — and it compounds. Decision Graph Policy mappings + employee IP Limits, exceptions and approval rules become executable objects — with departure rules for employee IP set up front.
Role permissions The real decision boundaries between PM, Risk, Compliance, Trading and Ops.
Workflow histories Every resolved case shows how this company actually coordinates.
Connector schemas Each integration maps the company’s systems into one decision model — costly to rebuild.
Approved evidence + outcomes A growing record that makes the next case faster to route and safer to act on.
a15Ventures.com 16 COGNITIVE AI Team
The team behind Digital Double. Managing Partners
Engineering
Alex Stolyarik CEO · Managing Partner
25 years in Gen & Physical AI, XR and Digital Twins Leads Digital Double at Stanford’s AIRE and LYTICS labs Two exits · CEO of a $7.4B multinational at its LSE IPO Advises Stanford SAL · NSF SBIR grant · GSV Elite 200 Degrees from MIT, Stanford and Harvard Business School Lana Kara Managing Partner
Venture Partner and DeepTech executive, 15+ years $5B+ in VC and PE deals across the US and Europe Led strategy for a $2B AUM Swiss family office GP of a Digital Twin AI/SaaS venture fund Founder, SK BioScience AI Digital Twin platform Ivan Manzhetov Chief AI Engineer
Richard Popov Lead Front-End Engineer
Alexey Dyakov Senior Back-End & Voice AI Engineer
Advisors & Business Associates
Sudeep Badjatia CEO & Chief AI Architect, Valutics
Advises Fortune 100 on AI Cloud patent holder · VC advisor Cornell MBA Chinat Yu Founder, Quest2Learn
ex-Microsoft Research, gen AI Stanford LDT · MLH Top 50 CS, Johns Hopkins Li Jiang Director, Stanford AIRE Program
Teaches robotics & AI at Stanford CES Best of Innovations winner PhD, McGill Dr. Paul Kim CTO & Associate Dean, Stanford GSE
Designs learning technologies National ed-tech advisor Saudi Arabia · Rwanda · Uruguay John Mitchell Professor of CS, Stanford · HAI
ex-Vice Provost · ex-CS Chair 250+ papers · 30k+ citations PhD, MIT a15Ventures.com 17 COGNITIVE AI Next step
The Proof of Concept (PoC), in three numbers. Measured four ways. Duration 8 weeks Map, shadow, act with approval, measure — two weeks each.
Scope 1 workflow Limit exceptions, allocations, broker terms or LP responses.
People 4–6 Doubles The leaders who own that workflow’s decisions today.
What we measure
Decision latency days → hours on delegated decision types
Expert hours returned time back for higher-value work, per team
Meetings removed decision meetings that never need to happen
% decisions delegated share released to act with sign-off or on its own
a15Ventures.com 18 COGNITIVE AI GTM
Forward-deployed PoCs. Then a firm-wide Double platform. Design partner map one high-value workflow build the first Doubles set trust + governance rules Paid PoC
Pilot team per-Double seats workflow simulator internal expert Double graph Software + services
Firm-wide layer firm-wide Double teams released workflows client- and counterparty-facing action Platform ARR
paid PoCs per-Double licences + outcome-linked fees →
a15Ventures.com 19 COGNITIVE AI The ask
Raise $5M to prove the first repeatable deployment. Seed round $5M 18 months of runway
Use of funds 45% R&D — person-model, simulator, DD Core
25% Design partners & deployment
15% Security, permissions & governance
15% Go-to-market
By month 18 What the round proves 3 paid design partners Fidelity measured on live decisions 1+ production conversion, unit costs proven Seed-ready metrics: cycle time, margin 
See it live at the end of the presentation
