Event Overview
The AI Native Services Summit (AINS) comes to Austin on November 16, 2026. It is an intimate evening for the founders, operators, and investors defining what technology services look like in the AI era.
Hosted by Vixul at Pershing House, the summit opens with a keynote on the AI-native services thesis, moves into micro-talks from portfolio operators and small-group roundtables, and closes with open networking over snacks.
The premise is urgent. AI has erased the line between product and services. Clients now build what they used to hire for. Founders who reposition will capture software-like leverage. Those who wait will watch their margins (and their equity) erode. AINS Austin is where that shift gets talked about plainly, by the people living it.
Company Story
The Vixul founding team brings decades of combined experience building, scaling, and exiting tech services businesses. Three co-founders built Flux7 — a Cloud & DevOps consultancy — from zero to acquisition by NTT Data in 2019. Sam Melehy adds a complementary track record: founding Zefflin Systems and selling it in 2019, scaling tech services organizations to $100M across 27 countries, and completing multiple exits across his career.
Together, they learned everything tech services founders aren't taught: how to position, price for value, build a repeatable sales motion, and create equity from a services business. And they built Vixul because the ecosystem that product founders take for granted simply didn't exist for services founders.
Vixul was born from lived experience — not theory. Every framework we install, every milestone we guide our companies toward, reflects the hard-won lessons of founders who've been through the full journey: from early-stage struggle to successful exit.
Key milestones
- 2019
- The Founding Team Exits. Flux7 acquired by NTT Data. Zefflin Systems acquired by EVT. Two exits in the same year — and the same question: how do we help other founders do the same?
- 2022
- First Bootcamp. Vixul launches its inaugural bootcamp, bringing together the first cohort of tech services founders ready to make the shift.
- 2023
- VixulCon. Launched our annual conference — a gathering of tech services founders, operators, and ecosystem partners building what's next.
- 2024
- AI-First Investment. Vixul doubles down on AI — embedding AI-first frameworks, tools, and automation into every part of the program and portfolio.
- 2025
- Executive Advocate Program. Launched a curated network of senior executives who champion and open doors for Vixul portfolio companies — and planted the seeds of what would become the full milestone-driven program.
- 2026
- Milestone-Driven Program. Evolved from bootcamp to a structured, milestone-driven journey — with defined outcomes, graduation criteria, and a clear path to exit readiness.
Press Contact
Ali Hussain · Managing Partner, Vixul
press@vixul.com · 512-659-7689
www.vixul.com