Happy National AI Appreciation Day!

While the world is captivated by the latest chatbots and large language models (LLMs), a different — and arguably more impactful — AI revolution is happening away from the main stage. As many celebrate their new digital assistants today, we’re flipping the script.

The true story of artificial intelligence isn’t just about massive valuations and unlimited R&D budgets. It’s about strategic focus, targeted problem-solving, and flawless execution. And nowhere is this more evident than in the middle market, where companies are using AI not as a novelty, but as a fundamental tool for growth and efficiency.

Today, we’re spotlighting 10 middle market companies that are proving the future of AI will be defined by pragmatic leadership and measurable results.

Ten Middle Market Companies Winning the AI Race:

• Company: Astrana Health
• The Challenge: Scaling a value-based care model is notoriously complex. This model prioritizes patient outcomes over the volume of services and requires coordinating care across thousands of providers while managing the health of a massive patient population.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Under the leadership of CEO Brandon K. Sim and Strategy VP Bridie Gahan, Astrana Health developed an AI-powered platform that supports its network of over 12,000 providers. The system uses predictive analytics to identify at-risk patients, suggest preventative interventions, and optimize care pathways.
• The Measurable Impact: Astrana is successfully managing care for 1.7 million patients, using AI to improve health outcomes at scale.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI is the key to scaling complex, human-centric business models without sacrificing quality.

• Company: Houlihan Lokey
• The Challenge: In the high-stakes world of investment banking and advisory, speed and accuracy are paramount. Advisors must synthesize vast amounts of market data, financial reports, and qualitative information to provide clients with winning insights.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Guided by Managing Director Mark Martin and Co-head of Healthcare Mike Pisani, Houlihan Lokey leverages AI platforms like Einstein Copilot. These tools automate complex data analysis, summarize market trends, and augment the capabilities of their human experts.
• The Measurable Impact: Advisors can deliver deeper market insights with greater speed and precision, enhancing the firm’s competitive edge.
• The Strategic Takeaway: The best use of AI is often to augment, not replace, your top talent. It empowers experts to do their best work, faster.

• Company: Lincoln International
• The Challenge: In a competitive M&A landscape, identifying the right deal at the right time is a key differentiator. Manually sifting through market signals to find promising opportunities is time-consuming and inefficient.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Lincoln International CEO Rob Brown and Managing Director Scott Hebbeler have integrated intelligent automation directly into their core processes. The firm uses AI to enhance deal origination, identify potential acquisition targets, and streamline due diligence.
• The Measurable Impact: Lincoln International has embedded itself into the AI economy, using technology to sharpen its advisory services and source deals more effectively.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI can transform core business development processes from a reactive art into a proactive, data-driven science.

• Company: Melting Pot
• The Challenge: Every missed phone call is a potentially lost reservation and lost revenue. For a restaurant, handling call volume during peak hours while also serving in-person guests is a major operational bottleneck.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Melting Pot Restaurants CTO Randy Barnett deployed PolyAI voice agents, which use conversational AI to handle reservation-related calls. The AI can book tables, answer common questions, and provide information 24/7.
• The Measurable Impact: The AI successfully automated 68% of all reservation calls and generated $250,000 in new revenue from bookings made after hours when no staff were available to answer the phone.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI can directly monetize and fix specific operational gaps, turning a cost center (staffed phone lines) into a revenue generator.

• Company: Mount Sinai Health
• The Challenge: How do you deploy advanced AI innovations consistently and ethically across one of the nation’s largest academic health systems?
• The AI-Powered Solution: Mount Sinai CEO Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS and CDIO Lisa Stump didn’t just approve ad-hoc projects. They launched the dedicated Center for AI & Human Health, creating a centralized hub for research, development, and implementation of AI across clinical care, operations, and research.
• The Measurable Impact: This infrastructural approach allows Mount Sinai to apply multi-dimensional AI solutions across the entire system, ensuring that breakthroughs in one area can benefit the entire organization.
• The Strategic Takeaway: To achieve enterprise-wide AI transformation, create a centralized structure to drive strategy, governance, and innovation.

• Company: Ollie’s
• The Challenge: Employee wellness, particularly mental health, is a critical factor in performance and retention. However, support is often reactive, offered only after an employee is already struggling.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Led by CEO Eric van der Valk and EVP Chris Zender, Ollie’s launched Ollie Health, an employee wellness platform. It uses predictive AI to proactively and confidentially identify mental health risks, allowing the company to offer support before an issue impacts work performance.
• The Measurable Impact: A proactive approach to employee well-being, strengthening company culture and reducing risks associated with burnout and turnover.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI’s value extends far beyond the customer. Investing in your employees’ well-being with AI-powered tools can yield significant returns in productivity and loyalty.

• Company: Shake Shack
• The Challenge: In the fast-casual restaurant world, overstaffing eats into margins, while understaffing ruins the guest experience. Predicting customer traffic is notoriously difficult.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch and COO Stephanie Sentell use AI to predict customer traffic by analyzing historical data, weather, local events, and other variables. This allows them to dynamically schedule staff to meet demand precisely.
• The Measurable Impact: A significant boost in operational efficiency and labor productivity without sacrificing the personal hospitality Shake Shack is known for.
• The Strategic Takeaway: Even in a “people-first” industry like hospitality, AI can optimize operations behind the scenes to create a better experience for both employees and customers.

• Company: Veracyte
• The Challenge: Traditional diagnostic research and development is slow, manual, and expensive, delaying the launch of life-changing medical tests.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Under CEO Marc Stapley and Chief Scientist Phillip G. Febbo, MD, Veracyte uses AI as a core R&D engine. AI algorithms analyze massive genomic and proteomic datasets to identify disease biomarkers and accelerate diagnostic discovery at a pace human teams never could.
• The Measurable Impact: The company is replacing years of manual lab work with rapid, AI-driven insight, getting critical diagnostic tools to patients faster.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI is not just an operational tool; it can be a fundamental accelerator for your core product innovation and R&D.

• Company: Warby Parker
• The Challenge: The biggest hurdle for selling eyeglasses online is the customer’s inability to try them on. This uncertainty leads to higher return rates and abandoned carts.
• The AI-Powered Solution: Warby Parker Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal and VP Shannon Malone pioneered the use of AI and Augmented Reality (AR) for their Virtual Try-On feature. The technology maps a customer’s face to realistically show how frames will fit. They continue to innovate with Google Gemini integrations to enhance their tech.
• The Measurable Impact: A radically improved e-commerce experience that directly addresses the primary customer pain point, boosting conversion rates and brand loyalty.
• The Strategic Takeaway: AI can be used to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds, creating interactive customer experiences that drive sales.

• Company: William Blair
• The Challenge: In an environment of intense AI hype, how does a leading investment firm advise its clients and steer its own strategy to ensure real, sustainable value?
• The AI-Powered Solution: Led by Managing Directors Andrew Jessen and Andrew Holden, William Blair is championing a strategic approach. Instead of chasing trends, they focus on deep enterprise adoption of AI, advising clients to prioritize solutions that deliver long-term competitive advantages.
• The Measurable Impact: By providing savvy guidance that is free of hype, the firm solidifies its role as a trusted advisor and ensures both its own and its clients’ long-term competitiveness in the AI era.
• The Strategic Takeaway: Sometimes the most powerful AI strategy is having a clear, disciplined strategy about AI itself.