Image: Kateryna Borodina / Shutterstock.com
For many companies, artificial intelligence is still just an experiment. For American entrepreneur Matthew Gallagher, however, it was clearly the key to success. As the New York Times reports, he has built a company that is expected to generate around $1.8 billion in revenue this year—with only two full-time employees at present. It sounds like a story straight out of Silicon Valley. In reality, however, this case highlights just how rapidly business models are changing right now.
A launch from the living room
Gallagher founded Medvi from his home in Los Angeles. According to available reports, he invested only about $20,000 and took roughly two months to get the company off the ground. The idea behind it wasn’t particularly new: Medvi provides telemedicine services related to GLP-1 medications for weight loss. What was new, above all, was the way Gallagher built the company.
He used artificial intelligence in areas where entire teams would normally be working. Programs helped with writing code, creating website content, drafting advertisements, and handling customer service. Business performance analyses were also automated. Tasks that couldn’t be effectively handled digitally were outsourced to external partners.
The growth hit with full force
Success apparently came quickly. Medvi had already signed up 300 customers in its first month, and another 1,000 joined in the second. According to the report, the company generated $401 million in revenue in its first full fiscal year, 2025. After that, Gallagher brought his brother into the company. To this day, there are still no other full-time employees.
What is particularly noteworthy here is that Medvi is not a traditional AI company. The company does not sell new technology, but instead uses existing tools to scale up an existing model faster and more cost-effectively than many competitors. That is precisely what makes this case so interesting. It demonstrates that AI not only creates new products, but can also radically accelerate existing business models.
Efficient, but not flawless
However, the launch didn’t go entirely smoothly. According to reports, the customer service chatbot sometimes provided incorrect information, made up prices, or gave vague answers. There were also issues with advertising and public relations. Furthermore, it became clear that extremely lean structures aren’t all advantages. When almost everything depends on a single person, even a minor technical glitch can quickly become costly.
Nevertheless, the economic impact is hard to overlook. Medvi grew rapidly in a short period of time, operated profitably, and has already expanded into other areas of healthcare. Gallagher himself seems to view this as confirmation that large teams are not always an advantage. Today, companies that make decisions faster and require less coordination can apparently capture markets much more aggressively.
The real issue lies elsewhere
As impressive as the numbers may seem, the question of what such stories mean for the job market is even more intriguing. If two people can build a company of this size using AI, then this is not just a startup success story, but also a warning sign. Many tasks that used to require developers, service staff, marketing professionals, and analysts can now be automated, at least in part.
That is precisely where the real issue lies. AI doesn’t just make companies faster; it also significantly reduces their workforce. For business owners, this is appealing. For employees, it’s pretty bad news.
A critical look at the situation therefore reveals a mixed picture: what’s impressive isn’t that AI makes work easier. What’s impressive is how quickly it can reshape entire corporate structures. But judging a company solely on efficiency falls short. Those who simply celebrate the fact that two people are generating billions easily overlook what is lost in the process: control, experience, responsibility, and ultimately, perhaps, all sense of proportion.
Source: nytimes.com
