The AI trade has trained investors to look for the next Nvidia Corp (NVDA), the next chip winner or the next company selling picks and shovels to data centers. But Allen Bond, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Jensen Investment Management, sees opportunity somewhere less glamorous: software and business-services companies whose competitive advantages are easy to overlook in an AI-obsessed market.

"We see opportunity in high-quality software and business-services companies," Bond told MarketDash in an exclusive email interview.

He pointed to businesses where regulatory complexity, unique data and deeply embedded workflows can make customers harder to dislodge. He specifically named Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV), Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) and Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (BR).

The Boring Side Of AI

None of the three stocks is likely to generate the same excitement as an AI accelerator or hyperscaler. That is precisely the point.

Bond says Veeva, Verisk and Broadridge have "durable recurring revenue, high switching costs and attractive returns on capital," but have been "overshadowed by more obvious AI beneficiaries."

Their businesses are also deeply embedded in specialized industries. Veeva provides cloud software for the life-sciences industry and is expanding its AI offerings, while Verisk provides data and analytics to the insurance industry. Broadridge operates financial-market infrastructure and generated $4.88 billion in recurring revenue in fiscal 2026, up 8% year over year.

That creates a different way to think about the AI trade. Rather than asking which company will build the most powerful model, investors can look for businesses where data, workflows and customer relationships create staying power as AI gets integrated into existing industries.

Where The Moats Matter

Bond's argument is less about these companies suddenly becoming AI stocks and more about what they already have.

Regulation can make software difficult to replace. Proprietary data can become more valuable as AI tools improve. And deeply embedded workflows can make switching providers expensive or disruptive.

Broadridge, for example, says it is incorporating agentic AI across its business while continuing to build its core financial-market infrastructure. Its fiscal 2027 guidance calls for 6%-8% recurring-revenue growth and 8%-12% adjusted EPS growth.

Veeva is similarly adding AI to an existing customer base rather than building its business from scratch around the technology. The company said in September that its Falcon platform is designed to bring agentic labor into life-sciences workflows.

For Bond, that combination of established economics and structural advantages is what makes the three names interesting.

Investment Takeaway

The AI boom has created an obvious group of winners, but Bond's picks point to a less crowded question: What happens to companies whose competitive moats become more valuable as AI enters their customers' workflows?

Veeva, Verisk and Broadridge may not have the flashiest AI narratives, but their recurring revenue, specialized data and switching costs give investors another way to participate in AI's expansion without betting directly on the next model winner.