The Future of Relationship Tech
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The way we define relationships is changing. Gender-fluid, relationship-fluid, people are getting married less, divorcing more, and having fewer—if any—children. Yet connecting people to each other is one of the greatest uses of the internet. In my book, I uncovered that many of the earliest online community platforms were not built for dating, but relationships—romantic and platonic—absolutely blossomed there. Even YouTube famously began as a dating platform before quickly shifting to general video sharing. Today, AI—and the second-order effects society will feel from it—will open up entirely new models for building and sustaining relationships.
In 1995, Match.com ushered in the era of online dating. What was once taboo—meeting your partner online—has become the default. From casual encounters to serious relationships, an abundance of startups have emerged and grown to venture scale over the last 30 years in the dating space. But this legacy generation of products no longer fits how people want to build relationships today. Dating as a category needs a rebrand. The post-millennial era is less about scrolling, swiping and settling down (although a new wave of AI-driven matchmaking and setup services are available), and more about never-ending social experiences, emotional support, and fun, new ways to explore romantic possibilities.
As norms around love, partnership, identity, and mental health evolve, we’re seeing a shift in how people want to engage—and a massive opportunity emerge for founders to build products for modern relationships.
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Here are four areas where I see breakout consumer businesses being built in relationship tech:
The Relationship OS (rOS)
Imagine a hybrid social-dating platform designed to help you continuously create new relationships and friendships—one that reflects your identity, that evolves and stays with you as an AI companion product and intelligent social network as you evolve as a person.
Maybe this looks like a social network with a personal AI agent super-connector layer. Voice as an interface could be interesting here. On one hand, your rOS serves up new, potentially interesting people to meet, and on the other, they act as your relationship confidante, coach, and companion—providing utility and entertainment as an additional layer on top of the network.
Community-Centric Platforms: Authenticity Over Algorithms
Dating apps today often feel transactional, single-player and isolating. A counter-trend toward genuine community and multi-player shared experience is growing. Platforms that leverage AI or augment human hosts to facilitate real-world connections around shared interests, events, or communities can counteract dating fatigue. These products could look more like marketplaces or social networks where building relationships isn’t the primary purpose but a core motivator of product usage.
New types of event and interest platforms are emerging that blend virtual and physical gatherings, intelligently organized by AI to match personalities and interests in real time, enhancing rather than replacing human judgment. This model supports vibrant, real-world communities—building loyalty, reducing churn, and positioning itself as a healthier alternative to endless swiping.
Emotional CRM: Consumer Products for the Human Condition
We track our careers obsessively—titles, companies, exits. But our relational lives are rarely given that same visibility or weight. A new class of apps will emerge that map and enrich our close ties: think family trees you actually use, relationship health dashboards, or private social graphs with rituals, memories, and milestones embedded.
These tools may look like a shared journal for couples, a calendar of friendaversaries, or even an “emotional CRM” to help you maintain long-distance friendships with more intention. This is where consumer infrastructure meets emotion—an opportunity to productize things like grief support, life post-retirement, postpartum friendships, break ups, co-parenting, and chosen families.
Virtual Rituals & Memory Archives
In a world where many relationships are hybrid or long-distance, rituals become even more important. The next breakout platforms will make shared experiences feel tangible again—whether it’s lighting a candle at the same time every Sunday night, watching a show “together” asynchronously, or meeting in unique virtual spaces that involve activities. There’s a deep opportunity to build platforms that combine emotional storytelling with archival functionality—digitally sacred spaces that evolve with your connections.
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Dating shouldn’t feel like a lonely, single-player slot machine game. There’s an opportunity to reimagine the interface where the user experience is designed not just to match, but to understand people and help them form meaningful relationships.
There’s a $10B+ company to be built here (maybe even a $100B one) that brings an evergreen depth to the social and relationship experience. If you’re building in this space—reimagining how today’s technology can help us build better relationships—I’d love to hear from you.