From Sustainability Software to De Facto Design Professional: Cove.tool’s Adjacent Vertical Expansion Strategy

From Sustainability Software to De Facto Design Professional: Cove.tool’s Adjacent Vertical Expansion Strategy

Most companies celebrate reaching market dominance in their category and start optimizing. Sandeep Ahuja, CEO of Cove.tool, saw capturing 70 of the top 100 architecture firms as validation of a playbook worth replicating across ten adjacent markets. Sustainability consulting was never the destination — it was the beachhead.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Sandeep revealed how Cove.tool is systematically expanding from one sub-vertical into the constellation of consulting services that surround every architect. The strategy isn’t diversification for growth’s sake — it’s a deliberate path toward reimagining how buildings get designed.

Understanding the Market Map

To understand Cove.tool’s expansion strategy, you need to visualize how building design actually works. “In the middle would sit an architect who we are not currently intending to be, give us time,” Sandeep explains with a knowing laugh. “And then surrounded by the architect is, you know, different types of consultants, a mechanical engineering consultant, a structural consultant, a civil consultant, a sustainability consultant, and so on and so forth.”

This ecosystem creates about ten different sub-verticals, each representing a specialized consulting service architects need for projects. Sustainability consulting — Cove.tool’s current domain — is just one of these ten. “There’s about ten different sub-verticals that surround this architect. We’ve just tackled the first sub-vertical.”

The insight: if you can dominate one sub-vertical, the same capabilities and go-to-market motion can replicate across adjacent verticals serving the same core customer.

Why Sustainability Was the Right Starting Point

Choosing which vertical to dominate first matters enormously. Cove.tool didn’t randomly select sustainability — they had unique advantages that made it the logical beachhead.

Sandeep started his career as a licensed architect in India before transforming into a building science expert specifically focused on sustainability. That deep domain expertise became Cove.tool’s foundation. They understood not just the technical requirements but the buyer persona, the pain points, the regulatory drivers, and the decision-making process.

“I know that no one can take that learning away from me,” Sandeep notes about understanding the sustainability buyer persona. This irreplaceable knowledge let them build a product that resonated immediately with practitioners while their content strategy built trust with decision-makers.

Starting with sustainability also aligned with macro trends. Buildings represent 40% of carbon emissions — a statistic that changed Sandeep’s career trajectory and creates regulatory pressure driving demand for sustainability consulting. This tailwind accelerated their path to market dominance.

The Repeatable Playbook Being Perfected

What makes Cove.tool’s expansion strategy compelling is their explicit focus on making the playbook repeatable. They’re not just winning in sustainability — they’re documenting what makes them win so they can replicate it.

“Really, over the next three to five years, we’re just scaling up the playbook that we’re perfecting with this sub-vertical into other sub-verticals within our space,” Sandeep explains.

That playbook includes several core elements:

AI-Powered Service Delivery: The “sassified services” model that combines software automation, AI capabilities, and human expertise to deliver faster and cheaper than traditional consultants.

Content-Driven Market Entry: Hyper-targeted content for micro-communities that builds trust before sales conversations begin.

Land-and-Expand Economics: Low-risk pilot projects that prove value and naturally expand as customers bring more work.

Aggressive Value Proposition: Charging 25% of traditional rates while delivering 4x faster, made possible by their structural cost advantages.

Each of these elements works in sustainability because of fundamental market dynamics that apply equally to mechanical engineering, structural consulting, and other verticals. Traditional consultants dominate. Delivery is slow and expensive. Buyers are sophisticated and relationship-driven. AI can automate significant portions of the work.

The Customer Relationship Advantage

Perhaps Cove.tool’s most valuable asset for vertical expansion isn’t their technology — it’s their customer relationships. They already work with 70 of the top 100 architecture firms on sustainability projects. These relationships create natural pathways into adjacent services.

An architecture firm already trusting Cove.tool with sustainability consulting is a warm prospect for mechanical engineering services. The sales cycle shortens dramatically. The risk perception is lower. The integration friction is minimal because they’re already familiar with Cove.tool’s processes and platform.

This creates a multiplier effect where success in one vertical accelerates entry into adjacent verticals. Each sub-vertical Cove.tool enters strengthens their position in existing verticals by deepening the relationship and increasing switching costs.

The Category Evolution

Cove.tool’s self-description has evolved alongside their strategy. “Truly the category that we’re in today and have been, you know, with the AI revolution is we are the de facto design professional,” Sandeep explains. “So we are in the design services space where we’ve started out as the sustainability consulting sub vertical.”

This framing reveals their true ambition. They’re not building a sustainability company that happens to do other things. They’re building a comprehensive design services platform that started with sustainability.

When asked to complete the phrase “you are building the future of XYZ,” Sandeep’s answer is telling: “I’m building the future of building design.”

Not sustainable building design. Not AI-powered consulting. Building design, period. That’s the category they’re creating, with sustainability as the proof of concept.

The Long-Term Vision: Replacing the Consultant Constellation

Sandeep’s ultimate vision shows how vertical expansion compounds into something much larger than the sum of its parts. “I envision a world where Cove.tool is the de facto design professional that lowers the cost and design time across North America. So if you drive past any building that’s getting built, for you to know that was likely designed by Cove.tool, that is my vision.”

This vision requires dominating not just one or two sub-verticals but becoming the primary provider across most or all of the ten consulting categories surrounding architects. Instead of architects coordinating with ten different specialized consultants, each with their own processes, timelines, and deliverables, Cove.tool becomes the single AI-powered design professional handling everything.

The market opportunity is staggering. If each sub-vertical represents a similar market size to sustainability consulting, Cove.tool is positioning to capture 10x their current addressable market — and that’s before accounting for the efficiency gains and new possibilities that emerge from providing integrated services rather than fragmented consulting.

The Execution Timeline

Sandeep is refreshingly specific about timing. “Really, over the next three to five years, we’re just scaling up the playbook that we’re perfecting with this sub-vertical into other sub-verticals within our space.”

Three to five years to systematically enter and capture market share across multiple adjacent verticals is an aggressive timeline. It suggests confidence in their playbook’s replicability and the structural advantages their AI-powered model provides.

It also reveals strategic patience. Rather than rushing into multiple verticals simultaneously and potentially diluting focus, they’re perfecting the model in sustainability first, then scaling methodically. This approach builds stronger foundations in each vertical before expanding to the next.

The Broader Lesson for B2B Founders

Cove.tool’s strategy challenges the common advice to focus narrowly and own your niche. They are focusing narrowly — but with a clear expansion roadmap from day one. Sustainability was never the end goal; it was the starting point for a much larger vision.

The key insight: adjacent vertical expansion works when you’re not just selling products but delivering services to the same core customer through a differentiated model. If your competitive advantage comes from how you deliver rather than what domain expertise you have, that advantage can travel across verticals.

For founders building in markets with multiple adjacent sub-verticals serving the same customer, Cove.tool’s playbook offers a compelling alternative to staying narrowly focused. Dominate one vertical thoroughly, document what makes you win, then replicate systematically.

The future Sandeep envisions — where Cove.tool is involved in essentially every building built in North America — seems audacious until you understand the systematic approach behind it. Master one vertical. Perfect the playbook. Scale across adjacencies. Eventually, the constellation of services you provide becomes comprehensive enough that you’re not just a vendor — you’re the de facto design professional for an entire industry.