Corresponding Manager: Maria Cristina Pietronudo (mariacristina.pietronudo@unicampania.it)
Track Manager(s): Maria Cristina Pietronudo, Mario Sorrentino
Description
AI startups have emerged as one of the most-funded segments of the entrepreneurial landscape (Crunchbase, 2025), raising enormous interest from investors and markets. However, this promising scenario opens up a new set of competitive challenges. AI startups operate in asymmetric markets where large technology incumbents possess significant advantages in data availability, infrastructure, regulatory expertise, and access to scarce talent (Fossen, McLemore, & Sorgner, 2024). At the same time, competition is intensifying within the AI startup landscape itself, as ventures race to differentiate their products, scale data assets, and capture early-mover advantages in emerging technological niches (Ruokonen & Ritala, 2024; Bessen et al., 2022). This tension between structural disadvantage and entrepreneurial adaptability raises compelling theoretical and empirical questions about how startups can build, sustain, and defend competitive advantage, and, ultimately, survive in increasingly crowded and asymmetric markets. E.g.: How do AI startups sustain growth and resilience over time? What strategic positions can they occupy in environments dominated by big tech firms? How do they adapt their decision-making, routines, and learning processes under an intensive competitive preassure? This track investigates the strategic and entrepreneurial dimensions of AI-driven markets, examining how AI reshapes competitive dynamics and influences startup survival and resilience.
Keywords
AI startups; competition; startup growth
Key References
Bessen, J., Impink, S. M., Reichensperger, L., & Seamans, R. (2022). The role of data for AI startup growth. Research Policy, 51(5), 104513.
Crunchbase (2025), As Funding To AI Startups Increases And Concentrates, Which Investors Have Led? https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/big-dollar-ai-investors-2025-softbank/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic&utm_content=crunchbasenews
Fossen, F. M., McLemore, T., & Sorgner, A. (2024). Artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship. Foundations and Trends® in Entrepreneurship, 20(8), 781-904.
Ruokonen, M., & Ritala, P. (2024). How to succeed with an AI-first strategy?. Journal of Business Strategy, 45(6), 396-404.