Navin Chaddha, the trailblazing Managing Partner of Mayfield Fund, a powerhouse with 55 years of venture capital dominance, is revolutionizing the world of investing with an approach so innovative, it leaves the competition scrambling to catch up. Chaddha’s strategy is nothing short of visionary, positioning Mayfield light years ahead of other firms. His distinct, bold philosophy has reshaped the venture landscape, setting new standards for what it means to be a leader in the industry. While others follow trends, Chaddha forges his own path, constantly reinventing the future of investing with unparalleled foresight.
When Mayfield raised a $955 million fund last year, Chaddha explained to Appsitefusion that the firm did not pursue a multibillion-dollar fund because “replicating another’s strategy is a recipe for failure.”
Mayfield’s launch of “AI Garage,” a $100 million initiative, reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to pioneering investment strategies, especially in emerging technologies. By focusing on early-stage founders, the program is designed to nurture startups that are developing “AI teammates,” a concept that envisions AI not merely as an automated assistant but as an intelligent collaborator that works alongside humans on complex tasks.
This initiative marks a significant departure from traditional AI investment models, which often focus on broad applications of AI, such as machine learning or automation. Instead, Mayfield is homing in on a niche with transformative potential—AI systems that can augment human decision-making, creativity, and productivity. These “AI teammates” differ from the more common AI copilots or agents, which handle simple, repetitive tasks. The goal is to create AI companions capable of engaging in dynamic problem-solving, enhancing human capabilities rather than replacing them.
By backing this concept, Mayfield is aligning itself with the next wave of AI innovation, where the focus shifts from automation to collaboration. This approach is especially timely as industries increasingly seek solutions that combine human expertise with AI’s processing power to tackle more complex challenges. AI Garage not only provides financial resources but also leverages Mayfield’s decades of experience to guide early-stage companies from ideation to successful, scalable businesses.
With AI Garage, Mayfield is stepping beyond traditional investment strategies and positioning itself as a key player in shaping the future of AI-driven human collaboration.
AI Garage distinguishes itself from established accelerators such as Y Combinator and pre-seed programs like Sequoia’s Arc and Greylock’s Edge. The initiative draws upon Mayfield’s extensive experience with its 40-year-long Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program, through which the firm selects one or two entrepreneurs annually to assist in transforming nascent concepts into viable, fundable ventures. By leveraging this proven model, AI Garage seeks to provide a more structured and focused pathway for early-stage founders to develop their ideas.
Through AI Garage, Mayfield plans to support up to five founders every six months. While participants won’t receive initial funding, they will have access to Mayfield’s resources, including marketing, talent, and business development teams. Once a solid business plan is created with Mayfield’s help, the firm will invest between $1 million and $5 million in the startup.
Chaddha’s expansion of the EIR program aims to capitalize on the emerging AI market, particularly the concept of “AI teammates.”
“They haven’t even started the company. We will help them start it,” Chaddha explained.
Chaddha explains that AI teammates are distinct from AI copilots or agents, as they collaborate with humans on complex tasks and enhance human abilities. They represent a new era of collaborative intelligence.
Although “copilot,” “agent,” and “teammate” are frequently used interchangeably, branding an AI application as a “teammate” imparts a more human-like and approachable identity. This distinction helps position the AI as a collaborative partner rather than just a tool
Chaddha believes AI teammates have endless potential to work with humans and shake up fields like product development, engineering, sales, marketing, customer service, IT, finance, HR, and even legal and admin roles.
Mayfield has already invested in nearly a dozen companies specializing in AI teammates. These include DevRev, which focuses on customer service, Docket, an AI-powered sales engineer, and NeuBird, an AI system for site reliability.
For example, in the case of NeuBird, human engineers guide the AI to monitor and troubleshoot site outages. If the AI encounters an issue it cannot resolve, it will escalate the problem to human engineers for assistance. As Chaddha emphasized, this illustrates the true role of an AI teammate.
