If artificial intelligence can help validate ideas, write code, put together pitch decks and test business models, one question inevitably follows: what happens to accelerators? Will the founders of the future still need a programme, mentors and a community, or will a few smart AI tools be enough?
This was the question discussed on the Future Stage at Latitude59 during the panel “If AI can build startups, how should we define the role of accelerators in the future. Will there be any accelerators left?”.
One of the central ideas of the discussion was that while AI is changing the tools used to build startups, it does not remove the need for human experience, honest feedback and a clear sense of direction. Technical barriers are lower than ever before: with the help of AI, moving from an idea to a prototype, writing code or putting together a first pitch deck is significantly faster. This means that more ideas can start moving at an earlier stage. However, it does not mean that all of those ideas are automatically moving in the right direction.
A point that came up repeatedly in the panel was that AI is very useful when the founder already knows what they want to ask. Things become more complicated when the founder is dealing with an unfamiliar area. If they do not understand legal issues, funding terms, financial models or the logic of building a team, the problem may not be a lack of answers. It may be that they do not know which questions to ask. This is where the role of an accelerator becomes especially important: a good accelerator does not only provide information, but helps founders understand which questions actually determine the next step for their company.
Sercan Altundas, founder of Neocortex, said that in his experience, the value of an accelerator lay precisely in bringing together different people and experiences. AI can be like one very smart adviser, but in an accelerator, founders are surrounded by mentors, other founders, investors and experts, all with different backgrounds and real-life decisions behind them. This kind of feedback can help avoid mistakes that AI may not see, especially in situations where a decision may be technically correct but strategically wrong.
Linda-Riin Võeras from Karma VC also emphasised that AI can give very confident recommendations even when the context is incomplete. This means that a founder’s own critical thinking is not going anywhere. On the contrary, the more AI is used, the more important it becomes to understand when a tool is useful and when it is necessary to rely on experience, market understanding or human judgement.
According to Anne-Liisa Elbrecht, Head of Tehnopol Accelerator, the question is not whether accelerators will continue to exist, but how they need to change. An accelerator cannot rely only on what worked five or ten years ago. If the tools available to startups change, so do their expectations of programmes, mentors and the supporting environment around them.
Tehnopol Accelerator acts as an extended team for early-stage technology companies – a place where founders are supported in validating their ideas, clarifying their route to market, building investment readiness and connecting with the right people and experience. This means that the value of an accelerator is not only in sharing knowledge. Just as important are pressure, rhythm and clarity: someone asking why the company is moving in this particular direction, whether the business model truly works, whether there is real market demand and whether the team is ready to take the next step.
The panel also touched on solo founders and AI agents.
AI can help one person do more than before, but from the perspective of investors and partners, the importance of a team does not disappear. If an entire company depends on one person, its growth, reliability and risk level depend on that person as well. Altundas shared from his own experience that the technology may be strong, but larger partners can become cautious if there is no broader team behind the company. AI can amplify a small team, but it does not fully replace shared responsibility, different competencies and trust.
The panellists also discussed how AI has already affected applications to accelerator programmes. Tehnopol has seen applications that have clearly been written with the help of AI. The problem is not the use of the tool, but what happens when the text becomes generic and impersonal. If all applications sound the same, the founder’s own voice disappears. Yet that voice is often the first thing that helps show why a particular team, solution or timing could be special.
In conclusion, AI does not make accelerators unnecessary. Quite the opposite: the easier it becomes to build something quickly, the more important it becomes to understand what is worth building in the first place. AI can add speed, but speed alone is not enough. Founders still need focus, real market feedback, a community and people who are able to ask uncomfortable but necessary questions.
Therefore, the question for the future is not whether accelerators are needed. The question is which accelerators can change quickly enough to remain relevant for founders in the age of AI. For Tehnopol Accelerator, this means a role that does not compete with AI, but helps founders use it more wisely – so that moving faster also leads to better decisions.
The panel “If AI can build startups, how should we define the role of accelerators in the future. Will there be any accelerators left?” brought together Anne-Liisa Elbrecht, Head of Tehnopol Accelerator, Linda-Riin Võeras from Karma VC and Sercan Altundas, founder of Neocortex. The discussion was moderated by Tarmo Virki from Fomo.Observer.
Latitude59 is the most international and influential startup and technology conference in the New Nordics region. This year, it brought together more than 3,000 participants from 70 countries, with 140 speakers taking to the stage. Latitude59 welcomed more than 800 startup representatives and over 600 investors from around the world, as well as 20 national and startup delegations. The next Latitude59 in Estonia will take place on 19–21 May 2027 at Kultuurikatel, with tickets available at latitude59.ee.
