Matthew Sallee from Tortoise Capital recently broke down something investors keep missing about the AI boom. While everyone's chasing the obvious mega-caps, the real opportunities are hiding in plain sight—those unglamorous companies quietly powering the entire infrastructure.

Here's the thing: when a secular trend takes off like AI has, the money doesn't just flow to the headline names. It gets distributed across the entire supply chain. Battery makers, semiconductor suppliers, specialized manufacturers—these are the picks-and-shovels plays that often outpace the splashier names over medium-term horizons.

Sallee's angle cuts through the noise. Most retail investors get caught chasing yesterday's winners. The institutional playbook is different. They're mapping out which companies will benefit from sustained capex cycles, which have pricing power, and which are still trading below intrinsic value.

The lesson here: if you're building an AI-focused portfolio, don't just stop at the obvious tickers. Dig into the supply chain, check who's supplying mission-critical components, and ask yourself which businesses have structural moats that'll survive the next market correction. That's where the real edge lies.