Enterprise software veterans Lexi Reese (former COO of Gusto, Google executive) and Dr. Stephen Herrod (former VMware CTO, Juxtapose partner) have launched Lanai with $10 million in seed funding to transform how enterprises navigate AI adoption.
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The company also announced infrastructure pioneer Rajesh Raman (Google, Meta, Splunk) as Chief Technology Officer.
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“Enterprise AI adoption has doubled to 65% in ten months, but 90% of this activity is invisible to leaders, exposing serious data and compliance risks,” said Lexi Reese, CEO of Lanai. “Just as GPS transformed navigation by revealing optimal routes, Lanai guides enterprises to AI success. We automatically discover AI interactions across teams, protect sensitive data, and help teams learn from each other—turning shadow AI into systematic advantage.”
Raman emphasized the urgency: “Teams everywhere are innovating with AI, but unauthorized tools and shadow usage create serious risks. Lanai automatically discovers and secures these interactions, preventing data exposure while helping teams optimize their AI usage. This transforms scattered experiments into measurable enterprise value.”
“As we emerge from stealth today, we’re seeing unprecedented demand,” said Dr. Herrod. “We’re already working with Fortune 1000 design partners, with a growing waitlist, because enterprises recognize the critical need.
“Just as Snowflake organized enterprise data and Datadog unified infrastructure monitoring, Lanai is organizing human-AI interactions—empowering enterprises to transform their scattered AI experiments into measurable business value.”
About Lanai
Lanai is the enterprise AI Navigation System that guides organizations from scattered experiments to systematic success. Our AI Empowerment platform helps leaders understand how teams use AI, protect valuable information, and scale what works best. Built by enterprise leaders from Google, Meta, VMware, and Splunk, Lanai helps enterprises achieve extraordinary results with AI.
