Pit Aims to Shake Up Enterprise AI Market with Custom Software

Swedish startup Pit has become the latest rising star in Stockholm's AI scene. Led by the cofounders of European scooter giant Voi, including Voi CEO Fredrik Hjelm, and former iZettle and Klarna engineers, Pit is backed by a16z, which is leading the startup's $16 million seed round.

Pit's Unique Approach to Enterprise AI

Pit is going after enterprise AI with products intended to learn from clients how their businesses run and then create custom software to automate processes. According to Pit CEO Adam Jafer, the startup's approach is different from competitors that offer AI agent-building or vibe-coding products. Instead, Pit positions itself as an "AI product team as a service."

Pit is entering a crowded market, but it hopes to differentiate itself by relying on two pillars: Pit Studio, which lets enterprise employees guide it through processes that could be handled by AI-generated software, and Pit Cloud, which provides that software in a way that meets enterprise requirements on governance, certifications, and auditability.

How Pit Works

In mid-January, the startup started testing its plan with pilot customers in telecom, healthcare, logistics, and other sectors, focusing solely on automating internal processes. "Nothing customer facing, no conversational AI, just pure back-office, service, and support functions that we turn into automations so that you can give back time to people to focus on your core business," Jafer said.

Scaling Up and Hiring Solution Engineers

The startup is now preparing to scale up commercially, but it won't be hands-off. Following the trend of AI companies hiring forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) to embed themselves to drive enterprise adoption, Pit is also hiring solution engineers. The goal, Jafer said, is to meet the expectations of the large customers it is targeting.

• They're looking to buy outcomes. They want processes to go faster. They want to see productivity unlock and time unlock."

European DNA and Sovereign Tech

Pit could benefit from its European DNA when it comes to sales. "We're going after industrials, and there's plenty of that in Europe," Jafer said. He also reported that clients appreciate Pit's agnostic approach. Since it can use different AI and cloud vendors depending on clients' preferences, it could benefit from the current tailwinds for sovereign tech, especially in critical sectors.

Pit's own needs on this became a subject of controversy a few months ago when Jafer posted on LinkedIn declaring "Yes, our team currently has no junior engineers. At Pit, agents now do most of what junior engineers used to do." While the post is still visible, he no longer stands by that. "It may have started like that, but you need a good mix as you scale," he said with a smile.