The Lean AI vs. Bloated Tech Index
Evaluating 50 liquid US Tech & SaaS companies with a transparent 0–100 Lean Score across 4 core accounting pillars. The Lean AI Index (Top 20%) and Bloated Tech Index (Bottom 20%) are pure Equal-Weight (1/N = 10.0% per stock) portfolios benchmarked directly against QQQ.
Equal-weighted return of the Top 20% highest-scoring AI operators
Equal-weighted return of the Bottom 20% lowest-scoring tech firms
Outperforms QQQ by +16.70% over 2Y
Equal-weight performance spread between Top 20% and Bottom 20%
Equal-Weight Performance: Lean AI (Top 20%) vs. Bloated Tech (Bottom 20%) vs. QQQ
Every company inside the Lean AI Index (10 stocks) and Bloated Tech Index (10 stocks) carries an identical 1/N = 10.0% weight (no volatility weighting).
Company Scoring Leaderboard (#1 to #50)
Every company is rated from 0 to 100 using the weighted average of 4 core sub-scores: 0.35 × Rev/Employee + 0.25 × Margin + 0.20 × SG&A Cut + 0.20 × R&D Push.
#1 PLTRAI-Native Palantir Technologies Inc. | 90.0 / 100 pts | 95/100$1.40M/emp +42.1% ΔRev/Emp | 99/10047.1% OpM +21.3% YoY Δ | 99/100-8.8% SG&A 38.3% SG&A/Rev | 60/10013.2% R&D +3.1% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +351.68% |
#3 DUOLAI-Native Duolingo, Inc. | 88.9 / 100 pts | 94/100$1.27M/emp +35.6% ΔRev/Emp | 94/10011.7% OpM +12.7% YoY Δ | 88/100-4.4% SG&A 29.6% SG&A/Rev | 76/10032.2% R&D +5.5% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | -49.17% |
#2 METABig Tech Meta Platforms, Inc. | 87.9 / 100 pts | 99/100$3.62M/emp +73.3% ΔRev/Emp | 71/10035.4% OpM +8.7% YoY Δ | 79/100-4.0% SG&A 12.0% SG&A/Rev | 99/10063.2% R&D +18.0% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +13.92% |
#6 GOOGLBig Tech Alphabet Inc. | 82.6 / 100 pts | 99/100$2.24M/emp +40.6% ΔRev/Emp | 60/10034.0% OpM +5.4% YoY Δ | 67/100-1.9% SG&A 12.5% SG&A/Rev | 99/10037.9% R&D +17.3% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +98.17% |
#4 GTLBSaaS GitLab Inc. | 82.1 / 100 pts | 72/100$409K/emp +15.1% ΔRev/Emp | 99/100-11.5% OpM +17.9% YoY Δ | 99/100-9.3% SG&A 66.0% SG&A/Rev | 62/10029.9% R&D +2.2% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +1.15% |
#5 SPOTAI-Native Spotify Technology S.A. | 81.8 / 100 pts | 99/100$2.69M/emp +50.4% ΔRev/Emp | 88/10013.5% OpM +11.0% YoY Δ | 83/100-3.6% SG&A 11.1% SG&A/Rev | 43/1008.5% R&D -2.8% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +55.02% |
#7 IOTAI-Native Samsara Inc. | 81.5 / 100 pts | 71/100$451K/emp +15.7% ΔRev/Emp | 99/1001.0% OpM +15.8% YoY Δ | 97/100-6.3% SG&A 58.7% SG&A/Rev | 62/10023.1% R&D +2.9% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | -6.94% |
#9 SHOPAI-Native Shopify Inc. | 78.3 / 100 pts | 97/100$1.75M/emp +37.4% ΔRev/Emp | 86/10017.6% OpM +10.4% YoY Δ | 71/100-2.3% SG&A 18.5% SG&A/Rev | 44/10013.5% R&D -2.8% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +111.33% |
#8 MSFTBig Tech Microsoft Corporation | 77.9 / 100 pts | 84/100$1.49M/emp +26.6% ΔRev/Emp | 57/10045.1% OpM +5.2% YoY Δ | 72/100-2.5% SG&A 10.4% SG&A/Rev | 99/10045.7% R&D +19.6% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +25.44% |
#10 ABNBAI-Native Airbnb, Inc. | 76.5 / 100 pts | 86/100$1.60M/emp +27.6% ΔRev/Emp | 62/10021.0% OpM +5.7% YoY Δ | 85/100-4.1% SG&A 32.1% SG&A/Rev | 70/10019.4% R&D +4.1% YoY Push | LEAN AI INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +29.57% |
#11 MNDYSaaS monday.com Ltd. | 73.5 / 100 pts | 68/100$433K/emp +13.9% ΔRev/Emp | 51/1005.5% OpM +4.3% YoY Δ | 91/100-5.3% SG&A 63.3% SG&A/Rev | 95/10028.0% R&D +13.9% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -64.16% |
#12 SQAI-Native Block, Inc. | 72.4 / 100 pts | 97/100$2.45M/emp +40.1% ΔRev/Emp | 66/1007.0% OpM +6.6% YoY Δ | 58/100-1.0% SG&A 17.6% SG&A/Rev | 52/10012.7% R&D -0.1% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +5.39% |
#13 TWLOSaaS Twilio Inc. | 71.2 / 100 pts | 70/100$1.01M/emp +15.7% ΔRev/Emp | 77/1007.8% OpM +9.0% YoY Δ | 87/100-4.5% SG&A 24.4% SG&A/Rev | 50/10021.3% R&D -0.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +267.48% |
#14 DASHAI-Native DoorDash, Inc. | 70.1 / 100 pts | 64/100$506K/emp +11.6% ΔRev/Emp | 73/1003.9% OpM +8.1% YoY Δ | 71/100-2.5% SG&A 29.7% SG&A/Rev | 77/10014.8% R&D +6.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +17.10% |
#16 ZSSaaS Zscaler, Inc. | 68.0 / 100 pts | 60/100$385K/emp +10.2% ΔRev/Emp | 42/100-1.0% OpM +2.8% YoY Δ | 92/100-5.5% SG&A 53.0% SG&A/Rev | 90/10037.4% R&D +12.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +38.72% |
#15 ORCLBig Tech Oracle Corporation | 67.0 / 100 pts | 51/100$509K/emp +5.7% ΔRev/Emp | 55/10035.6% OpM +5.0% YoY Δ | 78/100-3.3% SG&A 14.8% SG&A/Rev | 99/10065.0% R&D +20.0% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -25.96% |
#17 UBERAI-Native Uber Technologies, Inc. | 66.9 / 100 pts | 83/100$1.51M/emp +27.8% ΔRev/Emp | 56/10013.3% OpM +5.3% YoY Δ | 68/100-2.3% SG&A 15.7% SG&A/Rev | 52/1007.2% R&D +0.4% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -14.90% |
#18 MDBSaaS MongoDB, Inc. | 65.8 / 100 pts | 58/100$481K/emp +9.8% ΔRev/Emp | 61/1003.7% OpM +5.9% YoY Δ | 85/100-4.5% SG&A 48.2% SG&A/Rev | 66/10029.3% R&D +3.8% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +40.82% |
#19 NETAI-Native Cloudflare, Inc. | 64.7 / 100 pts | 63/100$487K/emp +13.0% ΔRev/Emp | 48/100-7.6% OpM +4.1% YoY Δ | 71/100-2.6% SG&A 60.4% SG&A/Rev | 82/10039.4% R&D +9.5% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +263.66% |
#20 SNOWSaaS Snowflake Inc. | 63.6 / 100 pts | 66/100$579K/emp +13.6% ΔRev/Emp | 64/100-17.0% OpM +6.5% YoY Δ | 54/100-0.8% SG&A 55.8% SG&A/Rev | 69/10044.3% R&D +4.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +183.18% |
#21 DBXSaaS Dropbox, Inc. | 62.4 / 100 pts | 64/100$1.20M/emp +13.5% ΔRev/Emp | 80/10026.1% OpM +10.2% YoY Δ | 65/100-2.1% SG&A 23.8% SG&A/Rev | 35/10029.9% R&D -3.5% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +46.68% |
#22 NOWSaaS ServiceNow, Inc. | 61.4 / 100 pts | 55/100$505K/emp +9.4% ΔRev/Emp | 60/1004.1% OpM +5.9% YoY Δ | 71/100-2.6% SG&A 41.5% SG&A/Rev | 64/10029.1% R&D +3.5% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -16.91% |
#23 DELLBig Tech Dell Technologies Inc. | 60.3 / 100 pts | 81/100$1.56M/emp +27.3% ΔRev/Emp | 26/10012.0% OpM -0.6% YoY Δ | 77/100-3.5% SG&A 9.8% SG&A/Rev | 49/1005.1% R&D -0.1% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +289.52% |
#24 INTUSaaS Intuit Inc. | 59.2 / 100 pts | 71/100$1.15M/emp +17.6% ΔRev/Emp | 59/10017.6% OpM +5.8% YoY Δ | 46/100-0.1% SG&A 33.4% SG&A/Rev | 52/10016.8% R&D +0.8% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -41.96% |
#26 DDOGAI-Native Datadog, Inc. | 57.0 / 100 pts | 60/100$490K/emp +11.1% ΔRev/Emp | 33/1000.7% OpM +1.3% YoY Δ | 59/100-1.6% SG&A 36.1% SG&A/Rev | 79/10049.1% R&D +8.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +117.65% |
#25 OKTASaaS Okta, Inc. | 56.1 / 100 pts | 44/100$483K/emp +3.9% ΔRev/Emp | 99/10013.3% OpM +19.0% YoY Δ | 51/100-0.6% SG&A 50.2% SG&A/Rev | 29/10022.6% R&D -5.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +195.29% |
#27 CFLTSaaS Confluent, Inc. | 55.8 / 100 pts | 47/100$374K/emp +5.4% ΔRev/Emp | 44/10012.9% OpM +3.7% YoY Δ | 69/100-2.6% SG&A 45.0% SG&A/Rev | 72/10025.1% R&D +5.8% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +18.33% |
#28 AMZNBig Tech Amazon.com, Inc. | 54.7 / 100 pts | 42/100$486K/emp +3.7% ΔRev/Emp | 41/10013.7% OpM +3.3% YoY Δ | 59/100-1.6% SG&A 8.1% SG&A/Rev | 92/10034.4% R&D +14.0% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +33.06% |
#29 PANWBig Tech Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | 53.6 / 100 pts | 52/100$524K/emp +8.9% ΔRev/Emp | 27/1005.4% OpM +0.3% YoY Δ | 70/100-2.7% SG&A 42.1% SG&A/Rev | 74/10026.1% R&D +6.8% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +108.76% |
#30 PYPLAI-Native PayPal Holdings, Inc. | 52.5 / 100 pts | 71/100$1.43M/emp +19.4% ΔRev/Emp | 33/10017.0% OpM +1.8% YoY Δ | 46/100-0.5% SG&A 12.8% SG&A/Rev | 52/10011.9% R&D +1.1% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -29.16% |
#31 CRWDAI-Native CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. | 51.4 / 100 pts | 54/100$461K/emp +9.6% ΔRev/Emp | 19/100-2.3% OpM -2.4% YoY Δ | 56/100-1.1% SG&A 52.0% SG&A/Rev | 83/10036.5% R&D +10.2% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +238.38% |
#32 TEAMSaaS Atlassian Corporation | 50.4 / 100 pts | 51/100$494K/emp +8.6% ΔRev/Emp | 34/10012.3% OpM +2.0% YoY Δ | 50/100-0.8% SG&A 34.6% SG&A/Rev | 70/10050.3% R&D +5.7% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +20.21% |
#33 HUBSSaaS HubSpot, Inc. | 49.3 / 100 pts | 44/100$383K/emp +4.9% ΔRev/Emp | 44/1004.9% OpM +4.1% YoY Δ | 47/100-0.6% SG&A 54.5% SG&A/Rev | 66/10034.8% R&D +4.9% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -51.13% |
#34 WDAYSaaS Workday, Inc. | 48.2 / 100 pts | 42/100$486K/emp +4.7% ΔRev/Emp | 62/10011.8% OpM +6.9% YoY Δ | 51/100-0.9% SG&A 36.9% SG&A/Rev | 39/10029.7% R&D -1.6% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -11.33% |
#35 FTNTBig Tech Fortinet, Inc. | 47.0 / 100 pts | 37/100$487K/emp +2.9% ΔRev/Emp | 63/10033.6% OpM +7.0% YoY Δ | 35/100+0.8% SG&A 38.0% SG&A/Rev | 57/10017.4% R&D +3.1% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +123.26% |
#36 ZMSaaS Zoom Communications, Inc. | 45.9 / 100 pts | 38/100$671K/emp +3.0% ΔRev/Emp | 75/10024.6% OpM +10.2% YoY Δ | 41/100-0.1% SG&A 36.6% SG&A/Rev | 29/10018.7% R&D -3.6% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +31.81% |
#37 PATHAI-Native UiPath, Inc. | 44.8 / 100 pts | 32/100$432K/emp +0.8% ΔRev/Emp | 81/1008.9% OpM +11.6% YoY Δ | 36/100+0.7% SG&A 55.7% SG&A/Rev | 31/10025.1% R&D -3.0% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +13.22% |
#38 ESTCSaaS Elastic N.V. | 43.7 / 100 pts | 40/100$470K/emp +4.9% ΔRev/Emp | 51/100-0.6% OpM +5.4% YoY Δ | 38/100+0.1% SG&A 52.0% SG&A/Rev | 47/10026.3% R&D +0.9% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +30.65% |
#39 CSCOBig Tech Cisco Systems, Inc. | 42.6 / 100 pts | 45/100$769K/emp +7.7% ΔRev/Emp | 26/10027.7% OpM +1.1% YoY Δ | 50/100-1.1% SG&A 22.6% SG&A/Rev | 53/10017.3% R&D +2.7% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | +98.84% |
#40 BILLSaaS BILL Holdings, Inc. | 41.5 / 100 pts | 52/100$982K/emp +9.9% ΔRev/Emp | 70/1009.7% OpM +9.2% YoY Δ | 9/100+5.6% SG&A 55.4% SG&A/Rev | 20/10021.9% R&D -6.5% YoY Push | WATCHLIST | -7.99% |
#41 ADBESaaS Adobe Inc. | 38.2 / 100 pts | 45/100$828K/emp +8.2% ΔRev/Emp | 39/10034.8% OpM +4.0% YoY Δ | 27/100+1.5% SG&A 33.9% SG&A/Rev | 38/10018.8% R&D -0.8% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | -45.36% |
#42 DOCUSaaS DocuSign, Inc. | 36.1 / 100 pts | 28/100$477K/emp +0.1% ΔRev/Emp | 55/10013.4% OpM +6.6% YoY Δ | 28/100+1.2% SG&A 49.5% SG&A/Rev | 35/10024.0% R&D -1.1% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +20.81% |
#43 INTCBig Tech Intel Corporation | 33.9 / 100 pts | 33/100$670K/emp +1.9% ΔRev/Emp | 21/10012.2% OpM -0.2% YoY Δ | 54/100-1.6% SG&A 8.8% SG&A/Rev | 32/10053.8% R&D -2.8% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +289.26% |
#44 PAYCSaaS Paycom Software, Inc. | 31.7 / 100 pts | 26/100$371K/emp -1.4% ΔRev/Emp | 28/10031.7% OpM +2.1% YoY Δ | 24/100+1.6% SG&A 37.1% SG&A/Rev | 54/10027.2% R&D +3.2% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +68.89% |
#45 CRMBig Tech Salesforce, Inc. | 29.5 / 100 pts | 28/100$527K/emp +1.1% ΔRev/Emp | 40/10021.4% OpM +4.7% YoY Δ | 20/100+2.1% SG&A 39.4% SG&A/Rev | 30/10015.9% R&D -1.9% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | -12.05% |
#46 SAPBig Tech SAP SE | 27.3 / 100 pts | 21/100$348K/emp -1.9% ΔRev/Emp | 41/10029.5% OpM +5.3% YoY Δ | 27/100+0.8% SG&A 28.6% SG&A/Rev | 22/10020.0% R&D -3.3% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +2.59% |
#47 PCTYSaaS Paylocity Holding Corporation | 25.2 / 100 pts | 17/100$257K/emp -2.4% ΔRev/Emp | 28/10019.1% OpM +3.3% YoY Δ | 21/100+1.3% SG&A 34.9% SG&A/Rev | 40/10018.4% R&D +1.2% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +2.09% |
#48 IBMBig Tech International Business Machines | 23.0 / 100 pts | 14/100$264K/emp -4.8% ΔRev/Emp | 23/10017.0% OpM +2.3% YoY Δ | 31/100-0.2% SG&A 26.9% SG&A/Rev | 31/10014.9% R&D -0.3% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +22.49% |
#49 ASANSaaS Asana, Inc. | 23.0 / 100 pts | 15/100$469K/emp -2.7% ΔRev/Emp | 65/100-19.1% OpM +10.6% YoY Δ | 4/100+6.9% SG&A 75.0% SG&A/Rev | 4/10039.8% R&D -10.1% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +0.59% |
#50 USaaS Unity Software Inc. | 19.3 / 100 pts | 7/100$460K/emp -8.9% ΔRev/Emp | 55/100-5.2% OpM +8.8% YoY Δ | 4/100+4.7% SG&A 49.8% SG&A/Rev | 12/10051.4% R&D -4.9% YoY Push | BLOATED INDEX10.0% Equal Weight | +99.85% |
10 Equal-Weighted Leaders
Ranked #1 to #10 with Master Lean Scores > 75. Every constituent has an identical 10.0% allocation in the Lean AI Index.
10 Equal-Weighted Laggards
Ranked #41 to #50 with Master Lean Scores < 40 due to elevated SG&A overhead and slower per-employee productivity growth.
How the 0–100 Lean Score & Equal-Weight Indices Work
0–100 percentile score measuring Revenue per Employee Growth and total revenue generated per full-time employee.
0–100 percentile score measuring YoY Operating Margin Expansion as AI workflows convert revenue into operating profit.
0–100 percentile score measuring SG&A Compression (cutting administrative & sales bloat relative to revenue scores higher).
0–100 percentile score measuring R&D + CapEx Commitment to ensure cost cuts are paired with aggressive AI investment.