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About
Clayton Petty is a Partner at Gradient, where he invests in AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and vertical software companies. Before joining Gradient, he led teams at McKinsey & Company across their Technology and Investing practices, helping founders and growth investors scale cybersecurity, infrastructure, and vertical software businesses, and working with operators on product launches and enterprise go-to-market. He started his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and Expedia. He was promoted to Partner at Gradient in July 2025 and writes frequently on topics such as agent authentication, enterprise resilience, and AI-native backup and disaster recovery.
Contact· published on Clayton's own website
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Beyond investing
- Education
- Studied computer science at Texas A&M.
- Awards
- Was promoted to Partner at Gradient in July 2025.
- Hobbies
- Enjoys traveling to Formula 1 races.
From Clayton's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Investments
Per the firm's website.
Colleagues at Gradient Ventures
Network8
Investors connected to Clayton in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Clayton Petty?
- Clayton Petty is a Partner at Gradient, where he invests in AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and vertical software companies. Before joining Gradient, he led teams at McKinsey & Company across their Technology and Investing practices, helping founders and growth investors scale cybersecurity, infrastructure, and vertical software businesses, and working with operators on product launches and enterprise go-to-market. He started his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and Expedia. He was promoted to Partner at Gradient in July 2025 and writes frequently on topics such as agent authentication, enterprise resilience, and AI-native backup and disaster recovery.
- Where does Clayton Petty work?
- Clayton Petty is Partner at Gradient Ventures.
- What does Clayton Petty invest in?
- Clayton Petty invests in AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data & Infrastructure, Enterprise Software, SaaS.
- What companies has Clayton Petty invested in?
- Investments tracked here include BackOps, Infisical, Layers, Quantro, StackAI, Tamarack.
- What awards has Clayton Petty received?
- Was promoted to Partner at Gradient in July 2025.
About this profile. Compiled from public sources — Gradient Ventures's own website and public professional profiles — and summarised by Fundraising Fox; every fact is kept with where it came from. Spotted an error, or would rather not be listed? Email privacy@fundraisingfox.com · How we build profiles · Your rights