Software, cloud and online retail: the companies that sell the work AI is starting to do.
The productivity handoff is one of 22 market stories StoryVector measures. 168 US ETFs carry it, with $59 billion between them; the largest holder, CIBR, holds 31.1% of its capital. This week it ranks 2nd of 22 for attention, in the HOT band. Over the past year its ETFs returned +17.9%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
Its level among all 22 on the fixed 25 to 60 scale. The band is where the level sits this week, not a direction.
Its ETFs ranked among the narratives, lowest to highest. The white notch is this one; the thin tick is where broad US ETFs would sit. Measured and past, not a forecast.
What the story is about, where its attention comes from, what sets it off, and what it shares ETFs with.
Companies have spent heavily building AI. Who earns the money it makes? Across this narrative's six categories the answer depends on how each company charges: software per user, cloud by usage, online retail per sale.
Existing companies build AI into what they sell. They keep the customer and the way they charge, and AI shows up as higher profit.
Customers hand the work to AI directly. The job still gets done, but what the existing company charged for goes away, and the money goes to whoever supplies the AI.
What would separate them. How each company charges. For software sold per user, watch user counts: fewer users because hiring paused is temporary, fewer because AI took the work is not. For cloud and online retail, ask whether the work still runs through the company at all.
This is a question for each company, not a verdict on a category. We measure the attention and the capital, not which companies build AI in and which are replaced.
168 ETFs carry this narrative; 126 have it as their main one. Here is how its capital divides among them.
The asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry this narrative, against broad US ETFs. Measured and past, not a forecast.
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The productivity handoffits ETFs, unlevered | +7.7% | +14.7% | +27.0% | +17.9% | +27.9% | +11.2% |
| rank among the narratives | 5th of 22 | 3rd of 22 | 4th of 22 | 7th of 21 | 7th of 21 | 8th of 21 |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualized. Rank is among the narratives with a full record for the period. A dash means the narrative’s ETFs do not cover the whole period.
Total return on the market price, each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it; the market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
6 categories, each claimed by a written rule. The bar is each one’s share of the capital. The table names what decides each.
| Category | ETFs | Capital | Share of the ETFs | Share of the capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise software ETFsWhether the work a seat is billed for still needs a person holding that seat | 15 | $40.9 bn | 12% | 69.1% |
| Internet and online retailWhere a transaction happens, and who is paid for placing it | 4 | $5.8 bn | 3% | 9.9% |
| Levered and inverse wrappersHow fast an issuer can list a wrapper against how fast capital arrives in one | 89 | $5.6 bn | 71% | 9.5% |
| Cloud infrastructureWhere the meter sits, on the work done or on the people doing it | 5 | $4.1 bn | 4% | 7.0% |
| Everything else | 9 | $2.7 bn | 7% | 4.5% |
| AI lab vehiclesWhether this system can verify the assets at all, which is upstream of every figure printed about it | 4 | $0.1 bn | 3% | 0.1% |
The widest gap: levered and inverse wrappers, 71% of the ETFs and 9.5% of the capital.
What issuers have listed with this as the main narrative, by wrapper.
What issuers have listed, not what anyone expects. A wrapper can be listed before anyone wants it, so a count of ETFs and a share of capital answer different questions.
168 US ETFs carry it. The largest holders of its capital are CIBR (31.1%), IGV (25.0%) and FDN (9.4%).
CIBR, with 31.1% of the capital in ETFs carrying the story; the top five hold 77.5%.
Its attention level is 58.4 on a scale of 25 to 60, 2nd of 22 this week, in the HOT band. The level averages six channels: search, video, news, forums, investor boards and reference pages.
Asset weighted, its ETFs returned +17.9% over the past year, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026. Past performance only.
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