Another Governance Fiasco with Builder.ai | Plus: Empire Building in the Age of AI

Boardroom Governance Newsletter #65 | June 12, 2025

Builder.ai’s Collapse & Governance Failures

In June of 2025, Builder.ai, a London-based AI software startup previously valued at $1.5 billion and backed by prominent investors including Microsoft, Softbank, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Insight Partners, IFC, and Iconiq Capital, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, marking yet another startling governance scandal in the tech sector. With over $500 million raised from a roster of prominent investors, Builder.ai’s ambitions seemed limitless. Founder Sachin Dev Duggal had marketed Builder.ai as a revolutionary AI-driven platform enabling non-coders to easily build custom apps. However, beneath its soaring valuation and high-profile partnerships, including with AWS and Microsoft, a web of accounting irregularities and dubious practices quickly unraveled.

Internal investigations revealed that Builder.ai had significantly overstated its financial performance. While the compan…