# menlovc-state-generative-ai-enterprise-2025-12-09

## Veille

Menlo Ventures 2025 annual report on generative AI in the enterprise - $37B market, adoption, startups vs incumbents, PLG - menlovc.com

## Titre Article

2025: The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise

## Date

2025-12-09

## URL

https://menlovc.com/perspective/2025-the-state-of-generative-ai-in-the-enterprise/

## Keywords

generative AI, enterprise AI, AI adoption, AI market, AI applications, AI infrastructure, product-led growth, AI startups, AI investment, AI productivity

## Authors

Tim Tully, Joff Redfern, Deedy Das, Derek Xiao (Menlo Ventures)

## Ton

Profile: annual research report from a venture capital firm (Menlo Ventures), analytical and quantitative register, medium technical level (business/market rather than engineering).
Style: data-driven argumentation based on a survey of over 500 enterprise decision-makers, abundant figures and ratios (market size, YoY growth, startup vs incumbent shares), sector and departmental comparisons. Assertive investor tone defending the "boom, not bubble" thesis. Target audience: investors, founders, enterprise tech executives, and IT buyers.

## Pense-betes

- Third annual Menlo Ventures report: enterprise AI spending rose from $1.7B (2023) to $37B (2025), a 3.2x increase in one year ($11.5B in 2024) — the fastest-growing software category in history
- Breakdown: applications 51% ($19B, over 6% of the global software market), infrastructure 33%, model APIs 16%
- Maturity: at least 10 AI products exceed $1B in ARR, 50 products exceed $100M in ARR
- Buy vs build shift: 76% of AI use cases are bought (vs 53% in 2024)
- 47% of AI deals reach production (vs 25% for traditional SaaS)
- PLG: 27% of AI application spending comes through product-led motions (4x the rate of traditional software); "Shadow AI" (personal cards) is estimated to account for nearly 40% of application spending
- Startups: 63% of the AI application market (vs 37% incumbents) — Product & Engineering 71%, Sales 78%, Finance & Ops 91%; but incumbents at 56% in infrastructure (Databricks, Snowflake, MongoDB)
- Departmental AI: $7.3B (4.1x YoY), of which coding $4B (55%) — 50% of developers use AI coding tools daily, velocity gains of 15%+
- Vertical AI: $3.5B (2.9x YoY), healthcare leading at $1.5B (43%, tripled since 2024); legal $400M, finance $350M, education $300M
- Startup vs incumbent duel example: Cursor vs GitHub Copilot

## RésuméDe400mots

Menlo Ventures' third annual report on the state of generative AI in the enterprise documents unprecedented growth: enterprise AI spending rose from $1.7B in 2023 to $37B in 2025 ($11.5B in 2024, a 3.2x increase in one year), capturing 6% of the global SaaS market. This is the fastest-growing software category in history.

The application layer dominates with $19B (51% of spending), ahead of infrastructure (33%) and model APIs (16%). The market is maturing: at least 10 products exceed $1 billion in ARR and 50 products exceed $100M.

Adoption patterns are shifting markedly. Enterprises now buy 76% of their AI use cases rather than building them in-house (up from 53% in 2024). The production conversion rate reaches 47%, compared with 25% for traditional SaaS, a sign of clear perceived ROI. Product-led growth accounts for 27% of AI application spending (four times the rate of traditional software), and "Shadow AI" — employees paying for AI tools with personal cards — is estimated to account for nearly 40% of application spending.

On the competitive front, AI-native startups capture 63% of the application market versus 37% for incumbents. This dominance is particularly pronounced by department: 71% in Product & Engineering (Cursor versus GitHub Copilot), 78% in Sales (Clay, Actively versus Salesforce), 91% in Finance & Operations (Rillet, Campfire versus Intuit). Incumbents, however, retain 56% of the infrastructure layer (Databricks, Snowflake, MongoDB).

Departmental AI totals $7.3B (4.1x year over year), dominated by coding: $4B, or 55% of the total, with 50% of developers using AI coding tools daily and measured velocity gains of 15% or more. Next come IT ($700M), marketing ($660M), customer success ($630M), design ($490M), and HR ($370M). Vertical AI reaches $3.5B (2.9x), driven by healthcare ($1.5B, 43%, tripling since 2024), ahead of legal, financial services, education, and retail.

The report settles the boom-versus-bubble debate in favor of a boom: strong real revenue growth, broad adoption (500+ decision-makers surveyed), measurable productivity gains, and sustainable business models. It also highlights the rise of model-agnostic tools (Cursor, OpenRouter) that accelerate adoption of frontier models, and international competition, notably from Chinese providers.

## GrapheDeConnaissance

- Menlo Ventures —publie→ rapport State of Generative AI 2025 (DOCUMENT, 0.98)
- marché IA entreprise —mesure→ 37 milliards de dollars en 2025 (MESURE, 0.95)
- marché IA entreprise —mesure→ croissance 3,2x par rapport à 2024 (MESURE, 0.95)
- startups IA —mesure→ 63% du marché applicatif IA (MESURE, 0.92)
- codage IA —mesure→ 4 milliards de dollars (55% de l'IA départementale) (MESURE, 0.93)
- entreprises —mesure→ 76% des cas d'usage IA achetés plutôt que construits (MESURE, 0.9)
- adoption PLG —mesure→ 27% des dépenses applicatives IA (MESURE, 0.88)
- santé —mesure→ 1,5 milliard de dollars d'IA verticale (43%) (MESURE, 0.9)
- Cursor —concurrence→ GitHub Copilot (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.88)
- Shadow AI —mesure→ environ 40% des dépenses applicatives IA (MESURE, 0.82)

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Canonical: https://www.thekb.eu/en/fiches/menlovc-state-generative-ai-enterprise-2025-12-09/