Goldman Sachs has introduced a new customized stock basket designed to navigate the increasing volatility in the software sector, focusing on companies believed to be better insulated from disruption by artificial intelligence. The firm has created a paired-trading basket for the software industry: taking long positions in companies considered difficult for AI to replace—either because their operations require physical execution, are protected by regulatory barriers, or involve accountability that must remain human-driven—while simultaneously shorting firms whose workflows are increasingly susceptible to automation or internal replication via AI. On the long side, Goldman favors businesses poised to benefit directly from the proliferation of AI, including providers of computational services, data infrastructure, observability solutions, cybersecurity, hyperscale cloud services, and AI development platforms. The basket includes companies such as Cloudflare Inc., CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Oracle, and Microsoft. On the short side, traders are targeting software-reliant workflows that may be automated or internally rebuilt as AI capabilities expand. Relevant targets include Monday.com Ltd., Salesforce Inc., DocuSign Inc., Accenture, and Duolingo. Faris Mourad, Vice President of Goldman Sachs' US Custom Baskets team, noted in a client report, "We expect the long portion of the basket to recover from the recent sell-off in software stocks, while the short portion will lag behind."