Spotlight On: John Yates, Partner, Gunderson Dettmer
Key points:
- • Atlanta is positioning itself as a center for applied AI innovation.
- • Limited early-stage funding is pushing startups to seek outside investors.
- • Clear AI standards are becoming essential for security, oversight, and responsible adoption.
October 2026 — In an interview with Focus:, John Yates, partner at Gunderson Dettmer, discussed Atlanta’s applied AI opportunities, startup funding, and the need for standards as businesses adopt new AI tools. “Applied AI has become central to the conversation, both here and in other technology markets,” Yates said.
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Why is applied AI becoming a strategic focus for Atlanta’s technology ecosystem?
Over the last two or three years, AI, particularly applied AI, has impacted the legal profession, like every other profession. We’re focused on helping promote Atlanta as a Center of Excellence for Applied AI. That’s become a mission, not just of my firm and me, but also of our community and our business leaders. Applied AI has become central to the conversation, both here and in other technology markets.
How is the funding environment playing out for Atlanta startups?
Atlanta startups face conditions similar to those in most parts of the country, with a few notable exceptions. Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York have much greater access to capital at the startup stage, whether companies focus on AI or traditional technology. This requires our community to reach out to venture funds, angel investors, and strategic investors throughout the country.
Recently, Georgia Tech sponsored a Venture Capital Roadshow in California that brought investors together to hear presentations from our Atlanta companies. We have invited many of those funds to come to Atlanta, but the market’s tight, especially for early-stage companies. One of our goals is to work with groups like the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Technology Association of Georgia, the state’s Economic Development Authority, and the Mayor’s Office to attract funds to Atlanta and showcase Georgia companies.
What opportunities are you seeing in robotics, physical AI, and other applied uses?
Georgia and Atlanta are well positioned to attract applied AI companies, in large part because we’re headquarters to Fortune 500 companies and major institutions of higher learning. That includes the AI initiatives at Georgia Tech and the technology research underway at Morehouse, Spelman, Emory, the University of Georgia, and Georgia State. Robotics, physical AI, and business applications of AI are areas our community can advance. We aren’t a community creating new large language models, but we do have a diverse and active business community creating “applied” uses of AI in the commercial setting.
Because of the work underway at Georgia Tech, Emory, and other institutions, we are seeing applications that go beyond integrating AI into existing business processes. That also includes tech advances in the public sector, where the City of Atlanta has convened an AI Commission that has issued recommendations for applying AI in government.
What is the idea behind an Atlanta Applied AI Accord?
Atlanta can serve as a unique testing ground for applying AI in real-world settings, which creates both opportunities and responsibilities. One idea now under consideration is an Atlanta Applied AI Accord. The idea would be a set of guidelines or principles that commercial businesses and government would follow in using AI. These would be voluntary principles and recommendations for how businesses use AI commercially. Atlanta has an opportunity to develop these principles, share them voluntarily, and help establish standards that businesses can use. Over time, they may help form a new standard of care for using AI in business.
What standards do businesses and investors need as AI evolves?
In my 45 years of practice, this is perhaps the most dynamic technology environment I have seen in terms of legislative and policy issues. We’ve had these inflection points before in the evolution of technology, whether it was the announcement of the IBM PC, the advent of the dot-com era, or the start of mobile computing. AI now permeates almost everything we’re doing. Initially, businesses and business leaders need to begin setting standards and guidelines.
Hopefully, government and our policymakers can use those to derive reasonable and effective policy and legislative guidelines. That usually takes a lot of time, and right now, time isn’t on our side. We need to begin focusing on AI usage guidelines and safeguards now. Priorities include security, human oversight, and careful control over how AI accesses and uses data and information. I’m very excited that Atlanta can play a significant role in helping to establish those standards.
How is your firm using AI internally?
We’re utilizing AI solutions to help make us ever more efficient and deliver the highest-quality services in a responsive way. It’s about figuring out which AI solutions are most appropriate. We are evaluating these solutions carefully and safeguarding confidential information. We’re also determining how these solutions are being used by clients. Clients often set their own standards and specify how they want to use an AI tool. At this point, the key is open discussion about AI tools, how they are used, and how they can be used efficiently.
What challenges are businesses facing as they integrate AI?
Lack of uniformity in the world of AI is both a benefit and a disadvantage. Different businesses are using a wide range of AI tools in different ways. Without uniformity, it’s very difficult to set guidelines, standards, and guardrails. The other element that’s very challenging is pricing.
Many companies have encouraged broad AI adoption only to receive unexpected token-usage bills. That requires more realistic budgeting around how to use these tools, what they cost, and how to balance those costs with demand. I think we will see more standardization over time, but right now, it’s a little like everybody running their experiment in different directions and trying to figure out what works best for them.
What role does Atlanta play in the regional strategy?
Atlanta has the elements and stakeholders needed to become a Center of Excellence in Applied AI. We have the Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 headquarters, and their AI thought leadership is here. We have higher education institutions focusing on AI, with Georgia Tech providing a deep engineering and AI talent pipeline. We also have a mayor and elected officials very interested in and supportive of businesses using AI.
There’s also a focus on maintaining security, privacy, confidentiality, and related issues. We have a diverse community, and there’s no question that Atlanta’s diversity is going to accelerate our city’s AI adoption. Even if venture capitalists and private equity funds are not based in Atlanta, they are coming to engage with our diverse tech and business leaders. We need to stay connected and organized.
What is your outlook for Gunderson Dettmer over the next three to five years?
Since we have 12 offices, with four of them on the West Coast, we have great visibility into what’s happening in California. California is on the cutting edge of AI regulation. Some view California’s rules as more restrictive of business, but they may also reflect more thoughtful analysis of the issues raised by AI adoption.
It’s a huge advantage to have visibility into those laws in California, and also in New York, Massachusetts, and Texas, states in which we have offices. Being aware of the issues is critical because AI is not geographically limited. You need to understand the laws in these states, counties, and jurisdictions. That’s an area we study very closely so we can advise our clients in the U.S. and globally.
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