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Investment Manifesto

Investment Manifesto

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By Jordan Blake | | Street Notes
Strategic Portfolio Architecture

2026 & BEYOND: THE AI INFRASTRUCTURE THESIS

The transformation in enterprise software is not just an upgrade; it's a regime change. As we enter 2026, I stopped looking at traditional growth metrics. I wanted you to see the future through my lens: Who builds the backbone?

The Great Reprioritization

Companies are now postponing "nice-to-have" solutions. They are laser-focused on three critical areas: AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and Operational Efficiency. Here is my CORE portfolio deep dive.

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

Cloudflare is the "Connectivity Cloud." As AI inference moves to the "Edge" (closer to the user) to reduce latency, their massive global network becomes the default infrastructure. Their "Workers AI" platform allows developers to run models globally with one click.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

Fastly ($FSLY): Too niche, lacks security depth.
Akamai ($AKAM): Legacy architecture.
Edge: Wins on developer experience.

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

In an AI world, cyberattacks are automated. Traditional backups are useless if infected. Rubrik focuses on "Zero Trust Data Security." They ensure data is immutable (unchangeable) and provide instant recovery after ransomware attacks.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

Cohesity / Commvault ($CVLT): Viewed as legacy storage.
Edge: Rubrik is valued as cybersecurity, not storage.

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

Security is consolidating. CrowdStrike is the "Salesforce of Security." Their AI (Charlotte AI) learns from trillions of weekly events. The more customers they have, the smarter the system gets. They are consolidating Endpoint, Cloud, and Identity.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

SentinelOne ($S): Lacks platform breadth.
Palo Alto ($PANW): Dragged by hardware legacy.
Edge: Purest cloud-native AI security play.

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

You cannot have Enterprise AI without organized data. Snowflake is the "Data Cloud." They allow companies to bring AI models TO the data (via Cortex), rather than moving massive data sets around. This architecture is vital for 2026.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

Databricks: Stronger in engineering, weaker in ease-of-use.
Edge: Snowflake is the "Switzerland" of data (Vendor Neutral).

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

ServiceNow owns the IT workflow backbone. They are best positioned to deploy "AI Agents" that actually do work (e.g., "Onboard this employee"). They turn AI hype into instant operational efficiency and margin expansion.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

Salesforce ($CRM): Sales focused.
Atlassian (Jira): Developer focused.
Edge: No equal in Enterprise Service Management.

🚀 INVESTMENT THESIS

Axon is a software monopoly disguised as a hardware company. Every Taser/Camera feeds evidence into their cloud. Their new AI, "Draft One," writes police reports automatically from audio. This solves a massive labor shortage in policing.

⚔️ VS. COMPETITION

Motorola ($MSI): Strong hardware, weak cloud.
Edge: Captured the "Mindshare" of public safety.

$ZS

The Strategic Option Play

ZSCALER INC.
View Analysis

Currently outside the core, but I am eyeing 2028-dated options. They are the "Zero Trust" gatekeeper. While Palo Alto relies on firewalls, Zscaler secures the user directly to the app over the internet.

Confidence Level I expect a success statistic of over 75% on this thesis.
Volatility Warning Any of these could experience a 70% drop. This is a very likely scenario for me.
Time Horizon If your horizon is not long-term (5+ Years), what I say will mean absolutely nothing to you.

Strategic Analysis by Cuma Cevik