AI is in a classic bubble phase, but the outcome will not mirror the dot-com crash. That was the central message from Micha Kaufman, Founder and CEO of Fiverr, speaking on the second day of AI Week by Commit and Calcalist, in collaboration with AWS. In a frank conversation with Calcalist’s Meir Orbach, Kaufman described a market flooded with AI ventures that often differ only at the margins, all competing for attention and capital.

The dynamic, he argued, looks like a modern gold rush. Money is flowing fast, expectations are inflated, and not every company will make it. Yet unlike previous cycles, AI is not a speculative layer on top of the economy; it is rapidly becoming part of the infrastructure itself. As the dust settles, investors will shift decisively toward companies that deliver defensible, differentiated value, not just compelling narratives.

Kaufman contrasted AI’s trajectory with previous technology waves, such as mobile and cloud. Those evolutions unfolded over the years. In contrast, the launch of LLMs and GenAI happened almost overnight, forcing leaders to make strategic decisions in an environment where the opportunity space expands faster than they can fully map it.

In this reality, speed is no longer a luxury; it is a defining competitive edge. Organizations that learn to act before they have perfect certainty, manage risk intelligently, and iterate in public will shape the next decade. Those who wait for the market to “stabilize” are likely to find themselves on the sidelines.

Despite the noise, Kaufman is optimistic. The bubble will pop for many, consolidation will follow, and the companies that remain will be the ones that built meaningful products and durable economics rather than riding hype. The wave is already here. The question is who will learn to surf it with discipline rather than fear.

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