For years, Israel’s tech ecosystem has been defined by sectors.
Cybersecurity. FinTech. HealthTech. DeepTech.
Each category carved out its own space, attracting founders, investors, and talent focused on solving specific industry problems. But according to Yoel, that framework no longer explains where technology is heading.
In a recent interview with i24 News, Yoel argued that AI should not be viewed as another sector inside tech. Instead, it is becoming the foundation every technology company is built on.
That distinction matters.
“Going forward, all technology companies, in order for them to succeed, are going to have to be built on AI,” Israel explained. “Even if it’s a FinTech company, the solution is now built on AI first.”
AI Is No Longer an Add-On
For years, companies treated AI like an extra feature.
A cybersecurity platform might add AI-driven detection. A financial product might introduce AI-powered automation. In many cases, the underlying business stayed the same while AI was layered on top.
Yoel believes the strongest companies emerging from Israel today are taking the opposite approach.
Instead of building a product first and attaching AI later, founders are starting with AI as the infrastructure itself. The product, industry, and customer use case come afterward.
That shift changes how startups are built.
An AI-first company can move faster with smaller teams, lower development costs, and shorter timelines to profitability. It also creates pressure on older companies that were built before AI became central to software development.
“They need to find a way to quickly adopt their technology,” Israel said, referring to legacy companies trying to compete with newer AI-native startups.
Why Younger Startups Have an Advantage
Yoel pointed out that newer companies have a structural advantage in this environment.
They are not carrying years of infrastructure, workflows, or internal systems designed for a different technological era. They can build from day one with AI integrated into how the company operates, writes code, serves customers, and scales products.
That flexibility matters because AI is changing the economics of building technology.
Tasks that once required large engineering teams and major investment can now be completed with fewer resources. Development cycles are shrinking. Product iteration is accelerating.
For founders entering the market today, the expectation is no longer that AI will eventually become part of the business. It already is.
The Human Challenge Behind the Technology Shift
The conversation also moved beyond startups and into something broader: how people stay relevant in a world where AI becomes part of everyday work.
Yoel was direct about the challenge.
“It’s going to be hard,” he said when discussing how workers will adapt over time.
He compared AI literacy to English fluency in the modern workforce.
Not everyone needs to become an engineer or machine learning researcher. But understanding how AI tools work, how to use them effectively, and how to participate in conversations around them will increasingly become part of professional life.
That applies across industries, not only in tech.
As AI systems become embedded into workflows, communication, hiring, operations, and product development, familiarity with these tools will become a baseline expectation.
Israel’s Position in the AI Era
Israel’s startup ecosystem has always thrived during periods of technological change.
The country built global leadership positions in cybersecurity, enterprise software, semiconductors, and mobility by adapting quickly and developing talent early.
The AI era appears to be following a similar pattern.
What makes this moment different is that AI is not limited to one category of startups. It is becoming the layer underneath nearly every category itself.
That means the next generation of Israeli startups may not describe themselves primarily by sector.
They may simply be AI-first companies solving problems in finance, healthcare, defense, logistics, education, and beyond.
And according to Yoel, that shift is already happening.
