From the wave-0 evidence ledger
Recorded claims
Each claim states what the inspected source says, at the recorded location—bounded by its scope and graded by its confidence. Nothing here is a synthesis across works.
In the inspected working-paper abstract, firms classified as AI-native were about 25% smaller while allocating about 13% more of their workforce to engineering; they had roughly 15% fewer entry-level employees and managers and were about half a seniority level flatter, despite comparable reported valuations.
Scope: YC W20-F24 and comparable US venture-backed firms founded 2020-2024; structural associations, not a universal organization template.
The reported structural differences were stronger when AI was part of what a firm sold than when AI appeared only in worker tool-use signals, suggesting that product architecture and organizational architecture covary more strongly than generic tool adoption in this sample.
Scope: Early venture-backed firms and the paper's text-based AI-native classifications.
Boundaries
Limitations & independence
Recorded at coding time, carried with the work forever. A claim without its limits is not evidence.
Recorded limitations
- Young US venture-backed startup sample
- AI-native classification and entry selection can confound structure comparisons
- Working paper may be revised
Source independence
Academic working paper using YC, venture, and workforce-profile data; no focal-firm outcome audit.