The Trump Administration's AI Action Plan, unveiled July 23, marks a decisive shift in how America approaches artificial intelligence, from cautious regulation to strategic acceleration. For founders building with AI, the plan isn't just another policy document. It's a compass for understanding how massive government investment, procurement opportunities, and regulatory tailwinds will reshape markets over the next four years.

The General Catalyst Institute (GCI) was invited to attend the official rollout of the plan in Washington, DC, where we heard from various government leaders, including the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Michael Kratsios, who led the policy effort. AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, Vice President JD Vance, and several cabinet members also attended to share their thoughts on the importance of the plan and America's global leadership on AI. The day's events were capped off with remarks from President Donald Trump and his signing of key executive orders.

At General Catalyst, we've been backing ambitious founders for this moment since 2017, investing billions in companies using applied AI to transform core industries. We believe the AI Action Plan validates our thesis that AI isn't just another technology wave; it's a fundamental transformation of how our society will operate in the years ahead. Companies that understand and align with these national priorities will have unprecedented advantages in scaling their solutions.

After analyzing the plan, here are three strategic imperatives for founders to know:

1. Move from Product to Platform: The government's shift toward comprehensive AI adoption favors companies that can deliver end-to-end solutions. Single-point solutions will struggle to navigate the new procurement frameworks.
2. Build Security In, Not On: With an emphasis on high-security deployments and protection against adversarial actors, security can't be an afterthought. Companies need to architect for zero-trust environments from day one.
3. Think Beyond Borders: The plan’s international component creates opportunities for rapid global scaling with government support. Companies should develop international strategies now, not after achieving domestic product-market fit.

Below, we dive into what the AI Action Plan means for different sectors and how founders can strategically position themselves for the opportunities ahead.

From Friction to Flow: How Policy Changes Enable AI Innovation

The administration's pro-growth agenda creates asymmetric opportunities depending on your sector and business model. 

For Enterprise AI and Defense Tech Companies: The rescinding of President Biden's Executive Order 14110 fundamentally changes the game for companies building dual-use technologies. Companies like Anduril are already positioned to capitalize on streamlined procurement processes and the Pentagon's new mandate to give every employee access to frontier language models. The new "AI procurement toolbox" managed by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) isn't just bureaucratic streamlining, it represents a shift from lengthy request-for-proposal cycles to rapid deployment frameworks, favoring companies with proven, scalable solutions. Government contracts are shifting from capability demonstrations to operational deployments. Companies need to move beyond pilots to production-ready systems that can scale across agencies.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Prioritize production-ready systems over proof-of-concept demonstrations
• Build relationships with program offices, not just innovation labs
• Align product roadmaps with the GSA's new procurement frameworks
• Focus on solutions that can scale across multiple agencies

For Healthcare AI: The plan's emphasis on regulatory sandboxes presents a unique opportunity for companies navigating the complex regulatory landscape. Hippocratic AI, which has developed AI agents for low-risk patient services, exemplifies the approach that will thrive in this environment: targeting specific, bounded use cases that can demonstrate clear ROI while navigating evolving regulations. The administration's focus on state-level regulatory environments means companies should strategically choose their initial markets and accelerate from there.

Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo), a subsidiary of General Catalyst, provides another example. Particularly through its investment in Summa Health and partnership with 20+ health systems, it is functioning as a health innovation sandbox that brings together health networks, our portfolio companies, and payers to transform how healthcare is delivered.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Evaluate a state’s innovation and regulatory environment when exploring initial deployments
• Focus on bounded, low-risk use cases that demonstrate immediate ROI
• Build relationships with health departments at all levels of government, not just those in Washington, DC 
• Position solutions as complementing, not replacing, healthcare workers

For Foundational AI Platforms: The plan's explicit support for both open-source and proprietary models reflects a sophisticated understanding of the AI ecosystem. Companies like Anthropic are positioned to become critical infrastructure as the government seeks alternatives to closed models for sensitive applications. The commitment to improving financial markets for compute could fundamentally change the economics of model training for startups.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Consider releasing open-weight models given the U.S. Government's preference  to lead globally in this segment
• Leverage new compute financing mechanisms to reduce training costs
• Build partnerships with government labs and research institutions
• Develop clear narratives, with technical substance, around transparency and control advantages 

Infrastructure as Destiny: The Physical Layer of AI Dominance

The administration's infrastructure vision goes far beyond data centers. It's about creating an integrated stack from energy generation to chip fabrication to model deployment. This presents distinct opportunities across the value chain.

Energy and Power Infrastructure: The plan's energy provisions include streamlined permitting for data centers, new categorical exclusions under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), increased development access to federal lands, and the National Energy Dominance Council. These actions represent the most aggressive federal intervention in energy markets since the 1970s. This creates a massive tailwind for companies building at the intersection of AI and energy infrastructure, like Mainspring Energy, whose innovative linear generators provide distributed, high-efficiency, dispatchable electricity that can be used to power data centers and commercial and industrial facilities. It also provides a pro-innovation framework for novel energy sources, like the pulsed magnetic fusion energy being developed by Pacific Fusion.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Frame solutions as critical infrastructure, not just technology products
• Prioritize partnerships with energy providers and data center operators
• Align with federal permitting timelines to accelerate deployment
• Focus on resilience and security features for government applications

Manufacturing Revival: The emphasis on AI-enabled manufacturing and robotics signals a broader industrial strategy. Companies applying AI to manufacturing processes, like Re:Build Manufacturing and Senra Systems, should align their narratives with the administration’s reshoring agenda.

The CHIPS Program Office's renewed focus on ROI means companies can access funding in a more streamlined, less bureaucratic fashion, thus unlocking access to markets and pathways to scale. 

Strategic Takeaways:

• Align company messaging with reshoring and supply chain resilience themes
• Target CHIPS Act funding for manufacturing-related AI applications
• Build partnerships with traditional manufacturers seeking modernization
• Emphasize job creation and workforce augmentation, not replacement

The Talent Transformation: Workforce as Competitive Advantage

The administration's worker-first AI agenda represents more than national necessity. It's recognition that talent constraints could throttle AI adoption and harm our geopolitical competitiveness. The executive orders on AI education and skilled trades training create specific opportunities for companies building in workforce development and augmentation. Companies creating AI-powered training platforms or workforce analytics tools should position themselves as enablers of the AI-enabled workforce transformation, not job replacers.

One pathway to leveraging AI’s productivity gains is through AI-enabled roll-ups. This strategy can embed AI-powered automation into the core of business operations, resulting in efficiency gains that compound across ecosystems. We’ve been deploying this strategy for nearly three years with companies like Titan MSP, which is automating routine IT tasks that enable technicians to resolve high-complexity issues at dramatically faster rates.

Strategic Implications:

• Companies developing AI tools for specific trades (e.g. construction, manufacturing, logistics) can tap into new federal workforce development funding streams
• The clarification that AI training qualifies for tax-free educational assistance under Section 132 creates incentives for enterprise customers to invest in AI adoption
• The emphasis on Senior Military Colleges as AI research hubs creates new talent pipelines for defense-focused companies

International Expansion: The Geopolitical Dimension

The plan's international strategy, which includes full-stack AI export packages, technology diplomacy, and allied coordination, creates structured pathways for global expansion that didn't exist before.

For B2B SaaS and Applied AI Companies: The administration's push to export American AI to allies is ultimately about creating sturdy economic interdependencies with the U.S. technology stack. Companies should think beyond traditional go-to-market strategies to align with government-backed expansion initiatives. The U.S. Embassy network abroad and U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) are actively seeking to showcase technologies for allied nations.

Companies expanding internationally should leverage these capabilities and programs strategically. For instance, companies in our European portfolio working with the EU AI Champions Initiative (which GC is co-leading with 70+ companies) have a direct bridge to U.S. government support for transatlantic AI collaboration.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Engage with U.S. embassies in key markets as well as USTDA staff early in international planning
• Prioritize Five Eyes and NATO allies for initial international expansion
• Position products as alternatives to Chinese technology dependencies
• Leverage government trade missions and showcase opportunities

For Defense and Dual-Use Technologies: The emphasis on strengthening AI compute export controls while promoting allied adoption creates a "walled garden" effect. Companies like Saronic, building autonomous naval systems, can leverage government backing to establish themselves as the default choice for allied nations seeking to modernize their defense capabilities without relying on Chinese technology.

Strategic Takeaways:

• Align with ITAR and export control requirements from day one
• Build relationships with allied defense attachés and procurement offices
• Position as trusted alternatives to adversarial nation technologies
• Leverage DoD's allied partnership programs for market entry

The Path Forward: Execution in the Age of Acceleration

The AI Action Plan represents a bet that America can out-innovate and out-build its competitors through a strategic pro-growth agenda and targeted investment. For founders, success requires more than understanding the policy. It requires anticipating second-order effects and positioning accordingly.

At GCI, we are not passive observers of these policy shifts; we're active participants in shaping them. Our recent fly-in program brought portfolio founders directly to Washington to engage with policymakers crafting these initiatives.

We work closely with our portfolio companies to find opportunities to leverage policy changes like the AI Action Plan. This includes:

1. Direct Government Access: Our legislative fly-in programs and policy engagement create direct channels between founders and decision-makers, helping companies understand not just what's in the policy but what's coming next.
2. Strategic Partnerships: Our relationships with AWS, Anthropic, and other infrastructure providers align with the administration's emphasis on public-private partnerships. We're facilitating connections that go beyond vendor relationships to strategic collaboration that meets the policy momentum.
3. Sector-Specific Initiatives: Through partnerships with the Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo) and others, we’re creating integrated ecosystem solutions rather than point products that government procurement will increasingly favor.
4. International Bridge-Building: Our leadership in the EU AI Champions Initiative and presence in key markets positions our companies to be first movers as the administration's export initiatives roll out.

At General Catalyst, we're committed to being more than capital providers. We're strategic partners helping founders navigate this new landscape where technology, policy, and geopolitics intersect. The runway hasn't just gotten longer; it's gotten wider, with multiple paths to scaled impact. The race is on. The question now isn't whether to participate, but how to position yourself at the front of the pack.