AI Wrapper
Also called GPT Wrapper and Thin Wrapper
A product whose core is a call to someone else's AI model with a layer of interface, prompts or workflow on top. Often used dismissively for products with little of their own.
Why it matters
A wrapper can be built in weeks, which is also how quickly a competitor or the model provider itself can copy it. Wrappers that last own something the model does not: proprietary data, deep workflow integration, distribution, or a customer they understand better than anyone.
For example
A startup that only turns a model's output into slides loses customers when the model provider adds the same feature, while a rival built into lawyers' document systems keeps them.
Related terms
Also in Starting Up
See how founders actually handle this on Growing and marketing, part of the Starting Up hub.
