About Michael
Michael Labate is a Board Member at Growth Acceleration Partners with a distinguished record of transforming and scaling global sales organizations. As a leader in growth strategy and AI-enabled value creation, he brings extensive experience in M&A execution for PE and VC-backed firms. Michael is recognized for driving revenue acceleration and identifying strategic opportunities in dynamic technology environments.
Articles by Michael Labate 7
Michael Labate | October 1, 2026
AI Models Are Becoming More Affordable. What Does That Mean for Engineering Teams?
A lower-priced AI model can prompt an engineering team to reconsider tools it already uses. Before switching, teams need to understand how much work the transition will require and how the savings might change once the model is in everyday use. We recommend comparing models on completed work that has passed review. The evaluation […]
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Michael Labate | September 22, 2026
The Unspoken AI Reality: Insights from a CTO Meetup & What It Means for Enterprise Transformation
While the public AI narrative remains dominated by flashy agentic demos and claims of automated workforces, the conversation behind closed doors among operating leaders was radically different.
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Michael Labate | September 7, 2026
Modernize a SaaS Monolith Without Freezing the Product Roadmap
SaaS monolith modernization does not have to mean choosing between technical progress and customer progress. Customers still expect new features and reliable service even as the architecture underneath needs significant change, and a full rewrite can consume the same capacity the roadmap requires.
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Michael Labate | August 11, 2026
How to Know When You Need a Forward Deployed Engineer, and How to Hire the Right One
The term “forward deployed engineer” is everywhere right now. Job postings for this “seemingly new role” grew 729% between April 2025 and April 2026. Source: Business Insider OpenAI has since launched a deployment company backed by more than $4 billion, while forward deployed roles are appearing across other big tech companies. For some, the term […]
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Michael Labate | July 9, 2026
Who Offers the Best Agentic AI Development Services for Mid-Market Companies?
Getting an agent up and running has never been easier. Off-the-shelf platforms, agent frameworks and foundation models have lowered the barrier to entry, putting a first deployment within reach of almost any organization. The challenge starts when that agent has to operate inside a real business. It needs access to company data, connections to existing […]
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Michael Labate | July 9, 2026
What Does an AI Agent Development Company Actually Do?
Search for help building an AI agent and you will find hundreds of firms that all describe themselves the same way, in the language of intelligent, autonomous and end-to-end solutions. But that language tells you (non-surprisingly) little about what the company would actually do for you in practice. The problem is that “AI agent development […]
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