Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman officially launch Ode, $1.5B AI enterprise services firm

Jul 15, 2026

On July 15, 2026, Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman officially launched Ode, a $1.5 billion standalone enterprise AI services firm. Built on the acquisition of Fractional AI and led by CEO Chris Taylor, Ode deploys elite engineers directly into mid-sized companies to implement custom AI systems. Backed by a major investor consortium including Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital, the 'Claude-first' venture aims to bridge the gap between raw AI models and practical corporate workflows.

Ode enterprise AI services launch

▪Ode, an enterprise AI services firm, officially launched on July 15, 2026, through a collaboration between Blackstone, Anthropic, and Hellman & Friedman.
▪Ode is a standalone company designed to assist mid-sized companies, such as community banks, regional health systems, and manufacturers, in implementing AI solutions.

Anthropic partnership with Blackstone

▪Ode operates on a 'Claude-first' principle, prioritizing Anthropic's frontier models and tools like Claude Tag in Slack, while remaining open to rival AI technologies.
▪Blackstone conceived Ode after identifying gaps in AI implementation across its portfolio companies, which will serve as a natural pipeline of initial customers.

Investor consortium backing Ode

▪Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman each contributed approximately $300 million to Ode's $1.5 billion capital base.
▪Goldman Sachs contributed approximately $150 million to Ode, with additional backing from General Atlantic, Leonard Green & Partners, Apollo Global Management, GIC, and Sequoia Capital.

Fractional AI acquisition integration

▪Fractional AI ended an 11-month partnership with OpenAI when the startup was acquired to form the core of Ode.
▪Ode was built on the foundation of Fractional AI, an applied AI services startup acquired in May 2026.

Chris Taylor CEO leadership

▪Chris Taylor, co-founder of Fractional AI, serves as the CEO of Ode, and Eddie Siegel, also a Fractional AI co-founder, serves as the CTO.
▪Ode CEO Chris Taylor stated that Ode aims to partner closely with corporate leaders to define and execute high-priority AI initiatives.

Enterprise AI implementation demand

▪Ode employs approximately 100 elite engineers, over half of whom are former technical founders, to deploy directly into client organizations.
▪Ode enters a competitive market alongside OpenAI's The Deployment Company and dedicated forward-deployed engineering teams from consultancies like Deloitte and Accenture.