At the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence is changing the craft of building a startup, but the program’s leaders maintain that it has not changed the fundamentals.
This summer’s delta v startup accelerator offered a look at this balanced approach, where entrepreneurs use AI as a powerful tool for specific tasks but continue to rely on direct customer interaction to make critical business decisions.
How MIT startups are using AI in practice
As MIT explains, Students in the 2025 delta v cohort used AI tools to accelerate routine tasks and support their development process. Common applications included:
- Accelerating coding and software development.
- Drafting presentations and marketing materials.
- Learning about new industries and conducting market research.
- Brainstorming new ideas and business strategies.
The program featured companies leveraging AI in different ways, from enhancing operational efficiency to building AI-native products from the ground up.
Mendhai Health: AI for efficiency in healthcare
Mendhai Health is a startup that uses AI and telehealth to provide personalized physical therapy for women experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction.
According to MBA student and team member Aanchal Arora, AI has made their entrepreneurial process more efficient and faster. However, she cautioned against overreliance on the technology.
“Overreliance on AI, at least at this point, can hamper your understanding of customers. You need to be careful with every decision you make.”
Cognify: Building an AI-native business
Murtaza Jameel, an MIT Sloan MBA candidate, described his company Cognify as an “AI-native business.” Cognify uses AI to simulate user interactions with websites and apps to improve their design and functionality.
Jameel’s team has integrated AI into every part of their workflow.
“We’re trying to integrate AI into all of our processes: ideation, go to market, programming. All of our building has been done with AI coding tools. I have a custom bot that I’ve fed tons of information about our company to, and it’s a thought partner I’m speaking to every single day.”
Jetpack: The Trust Center’s own AI co-pilot
The Trust Center has also integrated AI into its own teaching tools with Jetpack, a generative AI application. The app is trained on Managing Director Bill Aulet’s book “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” and walks students through the 24 steps of building a startup.
When a student inputs an idea, Jetpack can suggest customer segments, business models, and a product plan. The name “Jetpack” was chosen to reflect its intended purpose: it provides acceleration, but the user must still guide its direction.
The limitations of AI in building a business
While encouraging students to experiment with AI, the Trust Center’s leaders emphasize its current weaknesses.
Macauley Kenney, an Entrepreneur in Residence, noted that AI-generated information always requires verification and that large language models are often not suited for the specific needs of a startup.
“Many AI tools are built off averages, and those can be less effective when you’re trying to connect with a very specific demographic. It’s not helpful to have AI tell you about an average person, you need to personally have strong validation that your specific customer exists. If you try to build a tool for an average person, you may build a tool for no one at all.”
Why human interaction remains essential
Ultimately, the program’s leaders and participants found that the most significant challenges for startups—such as customer identification, market fit, and team dynamics—remain human-centric problems.
Ben Soltoff, another Entrepreneur in Residence, stressed that AI cannot replace the essential work of direct customer engagement.
“AI alone can’t tell you who your customer is, what they want, and how you can better serve their needs. You need to go out into the world to make that happen.”
This sentiment was echoed by founders like Jameel, who, despite building an AI-native company, cited the human element of the delta v program as its most valuable component. “Some of the top folks in our industry are advising us now on how to build our company,” Jameel said.
“It’s really unique. These are folks who have done what you’re doing 10 or 20 years ago, all just rooting for you. That’s why I came to MIT.”
