August 25th, 2025

2 min read

As Geodesic Capital marks its 10th anniversary, Partner Arvind Ayyala shares strategic insights into the firm’s disciplined approach to AI investments and digital transformation. Geodesic has always focused on enterprise-grade software that enables Geodesic to identify and scale the foundational technologies that power modern business transformation. Ayyala also shares his methodology for identifying the best companies – what he calls his “5M Framework.”

Bridges and Barriers

Geodesic Capital has maintained an unwavering focus on digital transformation throughout its decade-long journey, positioning AI as the natural evolution of this core investment thesis. “We’ve always been investing in companies that empower digital transformation through technology,” explains Ayyala. “For us, AI is just the latest piece in the puzzle.”
 
The firm’s growth-stage investment strategy spans the complete technology stack, from infrastructure to applications, typically engaging with companies at Series B and beyond. This approach has yielded a distinguished portfolio including industry leaders such as Databricks, Figma, ScaleAI, and Writer – companies that have collectively redefined how enterprises approach data, design, and artificial intelligence.
 
Geodesic’s AI investment philosophy centers on identifying the fundamental infrastructure and tooling that enables enterprise AI adoption – what Ayyala characterizes as the “picks and shovels” approach. This strategy focuses on evaluating opportunities across four critical layers: chips, models, middleware infrastructure, and applications.

AI is moving at warp speed and at Geodesic, we see current fundamental AI innovations giving rise to a new wave of companies supporting enterprise digital transformation. We are excited to back growth stage companies in this era.
Arvind Ayyala, Partner, Geodesic Capital

AI in Society

A compelling example of Geodesic’s targeted approach is Writer, which develops specialized small language models for specific industries including healthcare and finance. These domain-specific models incorporate built-in compliance and security features, allowing enterprises to deploy AI solutions without concerns about data leakage or permission management.
 
Similarly, ScaleAI addresses the crucial challenge of model deployment by building comprehensive guardrails, security protocols, and enterprise integration capabilities that enable safe AI adoption across business workflows.

The 5M Framework: A Guiding Principle for Investment

Ayyala shares his 5M framework, an evaluation approach he uses to assess every potential investment opportunity. The 5M framework is an excellent way to navigate crowded markets by identifying companies with genuine scalability potential and sustainable competitive positioning.

  1. Management

    Does the team have the right domain expertise? Geodesic prioritizes teams that have identified specific problems in previous technology generations and are leveraging AI to deliver superior solutions.

  2. Market Opportunity

    Is there room for expansion within the enterprise? Can the company grow beyond its initial customer base? Using Writer as an example, Ayyala explains how companies can establish credibility within a single enterprise function, then systematically expand across additional business units and use cases.

  3. Business Model

    What pricing strategy will the company adopt, and how will it sustain long-term growth? Ayyala noted that while SaaS per-seat pricing models are common, Geodesic anticipates hybrid approaches including outcome-based pricing structures that align vendor success with customer value realization.

  4. Metrics

    How quickly is the company growing? How much is it investing in R&D? These metrics are critical in the rapidly evolving AI space. These indicators provide insight into a company’s ability to maintain competitive positioning through continuous innovation.

  5. Moat

    What makes the company defensible? Ayyala emphasizes that sustainable competitive advantages must originate from proprietary data capabilities – what he terms a “data wedge.” Companies that can leverage customer data (with appropriate permissions) to continuously improve their models create compounding advantages that enable innovation at the pace of AI advancement.

Geodesic Capital is clearly poised to continue its role as a key investor in the digital transformation space, with a particular focus on AI-powered tools that help enterprises scale securely and efficiently. As AI continues to reshape industries, Geodesic’s strategic approach – backed by the 5M framework – ensures that they are supporting the right companies with the potential to drive real, lasting change.