Backing First-Principles Founders: Rajeev Dham on AI, SaaS, and Agentic Enterprise Tech

Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Rajeev Dham, Partner at Sapphire Ventures, about how venture capital investment in enterprise technology is evolving in the age of AI. Rajeev discusses why he prioritizes first-principles, highly technical founders over playbook-driven approaches, and how enterprise buyers are distinguishing between authentic and superficial AI innovation.

Rajeev shares his view on why SaaS remains a powerful model in the AI era, how agentic AI is starting to reshape enterprise use cases, and the profound implications AI has on software development, go-to- market strategies, and business models. He also explains how CIOs can identify the most promising emerging technologies and the cultural change required to adopt them effectively.

Topics include:

• Why agility and creativity define great founders in the AI era
• How agentic AI differs from traditional automation and where it’s gaining traction
• The evolving role of SaaS in an AI-native world
• How AI is transforming software development and the developer experience
• Advice for CIOs evaluating emerging AI-enabled solutions