# Betting AI’s biggest payoff is in industrial sectors not office work, Arrakis emerges from stealth with $38 million

Fortune’s exclusive on our launch from stealth, and why we think AI’s biggest payoff is in industrial operations.

## Content

In an exclusive, Fortune’s AI editor Jeremy Kahn covered our launch from stealth with $38 million in funding: a $30 million Series A led by Blossom Capital, with Accel, GFC, MainObject and Rerail, on top of a $7.5 million seed round led by Accel. Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel and OpenAI’s Olivier Godement also backed the company.

normal

The piece looks at the bet behind Arrakis. Most AI investment so far has gone to people who work at desks; we think the bigger return is in the industrial operations behind aerospace, energy, logistics and manufacturing, and we’re building an AI operating system for them.

It also covers how we work: starting with small, focused projects, such as cash-flow forecasting for a New York-listed shipping company; tying about half our fees to hitting a performance target; and staying model-agnostic, moving customers from proprietary models to open-source ones as the work matures.

With five customers today, the plan is to triple the team and open offices in New York and the Middle East.