Neel Somani on the New Invisible Hand: How AI Is Reprogramming Capital, Attention, and Human Value
In Black Mirror, algorithms manipulate reality for profit. In 2025, they just call that marketing. When every scroll, purchase, and click is optimized by code, attention has become the world’s most liquid asset.
When I met Neel Somani on a Zoom call, his screen was already split between a blog draft and lines of code. “I try to be very thoughtful and driven by economics,” he said, matter-of-factly, his cadence fast but deliberate. That simple statement, tucked between talk of reinforcement learning and startup strategy, revealed a consistent thread in how he thinks: everything, from human behavior to artificial intelligence, is an incentive system.
Somani studied math, computer science, and business at Berkeley before working in quantitative research at Citadel, where he learned to see patterns in markets that others missed. The same curiosity pushed him to build Eclipse, a blockchain scaling platform, and later to write about how AI is rewriting capitalism itself. He talks about attention as untaxed capital, software as a depreciating asset, and cities as the next vehicle for billion-dollar investment—all with the precision of a trader and the detachment of a scientist.
As he puts it, the invisible hand, or the self-regulating nature of markets, is no longer human. It’s algorithmic. Which is why our first question was about what happens when code itself becomes a commodity.
Q&A With Neel Somani
Q
The economics of software have shifted dramatically. What happens to the venture model when code becomes a commodity?
A
Neel Somani: Software is now cheap to build and easy to copy, so the traditional venture promise of durable ARR and moats breaks down. AI tools make great builders less dependent on outside capital, and thin wrappers do not justify multi-year fundraising paths.
The rational play is to prioritize projects that spit out cash immediately, skip venture when possible, and move on when the shelf life ends. Founders should optimize for optionality rather than valuations that force billion-dollar outcomes. On the investor side, private equity is better positioned to buy vertically integrated software with sticky end customers, since those relationships churn less than agent-driven usage.
In a world where agents select frameworks and code by default, CAC has weaker network effects and is less defensible over time.
Q
The internet rewards visibility as much as productivity. Influence now compounds faster than capital. How does that dynamic change how people build real wealth today?
A
Neel Somani: Attention is an asset that behaves like capital but without the same friction. It’s not taxed, it’s not regulated, and it compounds across every opportunity you touch. When I left Citadel and started building in crypto, the attention that came with that work became leverage in itself. It converted into access, fundraising, and distribution without any intermediary. The key is that attention has to be managed like capital. Most people spend it instead of investing it. Those who direct it toward long-term outcomes, like company building, partnerships, or talent, see exponential returns.
Q
As AI begins to automate creation itself, what kinds of products or systems will thrive in this transition?
A
Neel Somani: I call it “BLAST.” Products that win will monetize boredom, loneliness, and scarcity at scale. Boredom supports addictive feeds and speculative games. Loneliness rewards communities and experiences that make people feel seen and special. Scarcity commands premium pricing for goods and access that others cannot have, from luxury brands to constrained digital assets. Capital needs new categories that can absorb hundreds of billions, and those that capture emotion at scale will define the next wave of investment.
Q
How might competitive or decentralized governance models accelerate progress while still protecting the public interest?
A
Neel Somani: I think health care is a good example. Replace monopolistic approvals with competitive certification. In biotech, that means privatized Drug Certification Bodies that compete on speed, rigor, and price, with clear rules and transparency. Separate safety from efficacy so that safe compounds can be used while evidence on benefits accumulates, similar to how off label use already works. The same model could apply to AI systems, where independent certification bodies compete to evaluate safety and performance without constraining innovation.
Competition fixes the one-size-fits-all problem by allowing different risk tolerances, while guardrails avoid the failures of full deregulation. This structure preserves public trust but removes the bottleneck that comes from a single gatekeeper setting timelines, fees, and outcomes for everyone.
For example, off-label prescribing already approximates this model, with 20 to 30 percent of prescriptions written outside labeled indications once safety is established. As an example of how things might be different, Fluad was available in Europe long before the United States. Under competitive certification, a safety pathway would have enabled earlier access while efficacy data continued to accumulate, preserving choice without sacrificing oversight.
Q
How should society reallocate its human capital when intelligence itself becomes abundant?
A
Neel Somani: Reallocate people to work that is valuable, scalable, and harder to automate in the near term. In the medium term, that looks like construction that justifies large amounts of manual labor and can align millions around a concrete national project. Entertainment and meaning-making will dominate in the long run because humans will still want to feel something, and you do not sell movies to agents. Elderly care also fits because fulfillment and trust matter.
What would be useful is a human equivalent of Bitcoin mining. Take idle people and point them at endeavors that create obvious value today and remain useful even as intelligence gets cheaper.
Neel Somani is an emerging leader in the world of crypto and blockchain development. He is the founder of Eclipse, a pioneering Layer 2 blockchain platform that raised $65 million in funding, turning a bold idea into a cutting-edge reality. Before venturing into Web3, Neel was a quantitative researcher at Citadel, where he focused on commodities markets. This experience in finance laid the foundation for his transition into the blockchain space, where he aims to reshape the future of decentralized technology.
Neel holds a triple major from UC Berkeley in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Business Administration. His academic research explored areas such as differential privacy and next-generation machine learning systems, positioning him at the intersection of technology and innovation.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Neel is a passionate mentor and advocate for education. He has actively supported students at Berkeley and other institutions, fostering growth across multiple disciplines. Whether advising early-stage crypto startups, building decentralized platforms, or creating scholarship opportunities, Neel’s work is driven by a commitment to community-building and advancing innovation.
Mikayla Lewis is a seasoned editor, writer, and creative visionary who brings the perspectives of the world’s top executives to life through in-depth interviews and compelling storytelling. view profile
