AI is not going to replace SaaS. But it is going to fundamentally reshape it, by forcing a long-overdue clarity on where real value lies.
Over the past months, a growing narrative has emerged suggesting that we are moving into a post-SaaS world, we all have been swamped in our feeds with click-bait articles claiming that software itself becomes obsolete, replaced by AI-generated solutions and internally built tools. While technically compelling, this narrative misses a critical point. SaaS is not disappearing; rather, it is undergoing a structural transformation that is redefining the foundations of how value is created, delivered, and perceived.
What AI is ultimately doing is lowering the barriers to building software at an unprecedented pace. Capabilities that once required significant engineering investment, long timelines, and highly specialized teams can now be prototyped, tested, and deployed with remarkable speed. As a result, organizations are increasingly able to build tailored solutions themselves, solutions that are deeply aligned with their internal workflows and specific operational needs.
From a SaaS economy to a knowledge economy
If customers can build the tool themselves, why should they buy it from us? The answer, increasingly, is not the software itself.
Because companies do not buy software for its own sake, they buy the outcomes that software enables. They invest in more efficient workflows, better governance, and ultimately, stronger business performance. In other words, they are not buying features, they are buying outcomes and increasingly the knowledge that makes those outcomes repeatable.
This is where the real shift becomes visible in my opinion.
The way I see it is that we are moving from a SaaS economy to a knowledge economy, where the differentiator is expertise embedded in a company - the years of experience, the people, the culture, the understanding of meeting real business problems. The true value lies not in what the software does, but in what the company behind it understands about the customer, the industry, and the market their client operates in.
Standing in front of my team during our department meeting today, I phrase this as a new phase of growth: one that will likely be more demanding, but also significantly more meaningful and exciting than what we have experienced before. It is an old new - but critical that we advise, bring reference examples and know-how to the table.
Read more: "Niche" Is the New Competitive Advantage in the Age of AI
Why the shift hits startups hardest
This reality is particularly pronounced for startups. Historically, the ability to build quickly, iterate on product, and bring new features to market has been a strong source of competitive advantage. Today, that advantage is rapidly diminishing as AI compresses the distance between idea and execution. In such an environment, execution speed alone is no longer sufficient. What matters is the ability to listen more effectively, and to translate insight into tangible value with precision.
This realization has direct implications for how we choose to operate.
We need to reflect. A willingness to absorb feedback from every customer interaction, and an ability to close the loop between market insight and product evolution with far greater speed than before.
At the same time, this is not a moment to abandon direction or start over from first principles. It is a moment that demands we rethink how we work, who we serve, where we create the most value, and how we structure our offerings. It requires a more precise understanding of who we serve, where we create the most meaningful value, and how we structure our offerings, across pricing, packaging, and services, in a way that reflects that value. AI should not be introduced as a superficial layer of innovation, but rather integrated in areas where it substantively enhances the customer outcome.
Read more: 98% of CMOs use AI. So why do only 1 in 3 see results?
The companies that will emerge stronger
In this environment, one thing that it seems that all experts agree on is that companies that are deeply embedded in business-critical workflows, that combine technology with strong domain expertise, and that position themselves as partners rather than vendors, are likely to emerge from this transformation in a stronger position. It will make visible which companies are fundamentally creating value.
And that is, ultimately, not a software advantage. It is a human one.
