OpenAI and Anthropic Just Proved Everything

Why the two most powerful AI companies in the world just validated the Vibe Consulting model

May 16, 2026
Read Time: 7 minutes

Announcement

Webinar This Sunday: Join me live on May 17th at 2PM Eastern for a free training on how to get paid by businesses to spot the gaps that AI can fix. Register here

Fifteen months ago, I started talking about AI consulting.

Not AI tools. Not AI courses. Not AI automation agencies. AI consulting. The idea that the biggest opportunity in this market wasn't building the technology, it was helping businesses figure out where and how to use it.

A lot of people thought it was a niche idea. A temporary trend. Something that would fade as AI became more mainstream.

This week, OpenAI and Anthropic proved them wrong.

What Just Happened

In the same week, the two most powerful AI companies in the world both launched AI deployment companies.

OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company, backed by over $4 billion, with partners including TPG, Bain Capital, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and Brookfield. They acquired a firm called Tomoro, bringing in 150 forward-deployed engineers to embed directly into enterprise clients and build custom AI systems from the inside.

Anthropic followed with a $1.5 billion joint venture backed by Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and Hellman & Friedman. Their model is almost identical: embed engineers directly into mid-sized businesses, build custom Claude-powered systems, and help companies transform their core operations using AI.

Both companies are doing the same thing. They're sending consultants into businesses to identify problems, map workflows, and implement AI solutions.

Sound familiar?

That's exactly what Vibe Consultants have been doing for over a year.

This Is Pure Validation

Let me be very clear about what this means.

The two most well-funded, most technically advanced AI companies in the world, with billions of dollars and the smartest engineers on the planet, looked at the market and said: the biggest opportunity isn't building better models. It's helping businesses deploy them.

They looked at the same market we've been looking at and came to the same conclusion we came to 15 months ago.

The consulting model is the future. The model is the market.

When OpenAI and Anthropic are both betting billions of dollars on the same thesis you've been building your business around, that's not a coincidence. That's confirmation.

But Here's What They're Not Doing

OpenAI and Anthropic are going upmarket. They're targeting the largest enterprises, the Fortune 500s, the companies with massive budgets and complex, multi-year transformation projects.

They're becoming the new McKinsey. And just like McKinsey, they're going to charge McKinsey prices, work on McKinsey timelines, and serve McKinsey clients.

That's not the market we're in.

We're in the $1M to $100M business market. The HVAC companies, the accounting practices, the law firms, the manufacturing facilities, the agencies. The businesses that need AI just as desperately as the enterprise giants, but can't afford a $4 billion deployment company to come in and help them.

There are over 100 million companies in this category globally. OpenAI and Anthropic aren't coming for them. They're too small, too niche, too distributed.

That's our market. And it just got a lot more validated.

What This Does for Your Positioning

Here's the beautiful thing about what just happened: OpenAI and Anthropic just did your marketing for you.

Every business owner who reads about these deployment companies is now thinking about AI consulting. They're wondering if they need it. They're asking their accountant, their lawyer, their IT provider whether they should be doing this.

The awareness is being created at the highest possible level, by the most credible companies in the world, with billions of dollars in marketing behind it.

And when those business owners go looking for someone to help them, they're not going to find OpenAI's deployment company. They're going to find you.

The faster, more personal, more affordable, more niche-specific alternative. The consultant who actually understands their industry, speaks their language, and can start delivering results in two weeks instead of two years.

15 Months Ahead of the Market

I want to take a moment to acknowledge something.

When I started talking about AI consulting 15 months ago, the concept was new. The market was skeptical. Most people were focused on building AI tools, not deploying them.

We built the framework, the training, the community, and the platform around a thesis that the real opportunity was in helping businesses adopt AI, not just building it.

And now, the two most powerful AI companies in the world have confirmed that thesis with billions of dollars of capital.

The Vibe Consultant community has been ahead of this curve from the beginning. The people who joined early, who trusted the process, who did the work, are now sitting in a market that just got validated at the highest possible level.

If you've been on the fence about getting started, this is your sign.

The Window Is Still Wide Open

Here's what I want you to take away from this:

The AI consulting market isn't getting more crowded. It's getting more validated. Every time a major company bets big on this model, it creates more awareness, more urgency, and more demand for consultants who can actually deliver.

OpenAI and Anthropic are going after the top of the market. We're going after the middle. And the middle is where the real volume is.

Over 100 million businesses need this. Two deployment companies with a few hundred engineers between them aren't going to serve them all. Not even close.

The opportunity is bigger than ever. The validation is undeniable. And the window is still wide open for anyone willing to show up and do the work.

This Sunday, I'm hosting a live training on exactly how to get paid by businesses to spot the gaps that AI can fix. If you want to understand how to position yourself in this market, how to find the opportunities, and how to start closing deals, this is the place to be.

Register here for the May 17th webinar at 2PM Eastern.

See you Sunday,

– Andrew