SaaS Is Dead? Industry Experts Share Their Thoughts on the Future of SaaS

“SaaS is dead” makes a great headline, but it is far from the truth. One of the biggest arguments fueling this narrative is the rise of AI agents, but this logic is completely flawed. AI does not operate in isolation; it needs SaaS platforms to scale, integrate, and deliver value. Without SaaS as the backbone, AI agents are just isolated tools with no infrastructure to stand on.

And while AI is powerful, it does not replace the precision, rigor, or reliability of business-critical systems like CRMs, ERPs, or payroll software. AI agents are still prone to hallucinations, errors, and misinterpretations, which makes them hardly the foundation for trusted enterprise operations.
I can see why people are quick to jump on the “SaaS is dead” bandwagon, but they are missing the bigger picture. The picture where SaaS and AI are not competitors, they are collaborators. We are using this narrative to build AI and potentially AI agents into our SaaS tool to automate processes, gain deeper insights, and improve user experience.

The reality is that SaaS is not dead; it is evolving. The companies that will own the future are the ones that figure out how to strategically integrate AI into their platforms without compromising the core reliability and precision businesses depend on. AI might be the shiny new thing, but SaaS remains the foundation for scalable, trustworthy, and impactful solutions.

Those jumping on the “SaaS is dead” narrative are missing the real story. SaaS is getting smarter, and it is here to stay.

AI will disrupt SaaS, I have no doubt about it. Adopting an Agent-friendly API-first approach will be crucial if you want to stay relevant. Think about it – the interface will change. People will talk to their AI agents, and have them go do things for them. The agent will be able to do a lot, and it’ll always chose the SaaS that allows them to do it (hence the need to be API-first).

The ONE thing AI will not be able to do, is have conversations on your behalf with other human beings, because that is, and will remain… creepy. Thus, when the human asks his AI agent to get someone on a call, Face2Face.io will be the platform enabling them to do that. Any website offering F2F will become AI’s best friend.

SaaS isn’t dead—it’s evolving into something smarter and more customer-focused. The future of SaaS lies in specialized, niche platforms that deeply integrate into workflows, AI-powered tools that predict and optimize user behavior, and innovative monetization models that go beyond traditional subscriptions.

Success will depend on how well companies understand and serve their customers, creating seamless experiences and ecosystems. SaaS isn’t over; it’s just entering a new, more dynamic phase.

SaaS is not dead, but it is indeed profoundly changing. Some say it is morphing into Service as a Software which is a way of monetizing for value versus for seats. AI is the wind of this change and indeed I expect, as any foundational change, will produce other systemics change.

What does this mean for SaaS? Change, but not death for sure. AI is like electricity, and as electricity changes the way humans work in all industries, as such AI will produce a similar change. Electricity enhanced many already existing tools and empowered the creation of new ones. The same will happen with AI.

Let’s remember! SaaS is fundamentally a way of pricing the software and a way of delivering it to the customer.

Customers will still need software!

SaaS is still growing and growing, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon, at least from what I can clearly see. In fact, it’s continuing to develop. By 2030, the global SaaS market could likely blow past $900 billion.

Companies everywhere are relying heavily on already-built solutions that come from SaaS business. And with the AI race, SaaS will become even stronger. The subscription model now includes AI, with most B2B SaaS businesses racing to implement intelligence into their platforms, strengthening their positions.

Companies like Clay just received $40 million in pre-Series A funding and Tapline built a platform for SaaS businesses to raise funding rounds, themselves recently raising $20 million in funding. There are so many indicators that SaaS is not dead, but rather growing into a much bigger, more mature beast.

SaaS businesses will thrive in my opinion. SaaS businesses need to stay flexible, agile and adaptable and embrace innovation. AI can help SaaS business. Smart SaaS business put the customer at the top and provide personalised services with data-driven customisation, integrating AI algorithms and adding robust feedback systems.

Cybersecurity is also of maximum importance and SaaS businesses will need to prioritise implementing preventative measures. With the increased legal and regulatory compliance requirements, SaaS-tainability (ESG) is something that businesses need to pay more and more attention to.

Trends such as vertical SaaS, predictive analytics and Micro-SaaS will have an impact on the industry.

I believe SaaS is dead the way we know it. Sure it won’t disappear once and for all, but it will evolve to a point no UI will be necessary, therefore calling it “DEAD”. SaaS as we know it is definitely dying. It’s evolving into something new, driven by AI agents where traditional user interfaces won’t be needed anymore.

Just like how people doubted the internet or mobile phones at first, many don’t see this shift coming, but it’s going to redefine everything – Not dead, but it must adapt, sooner rather than later.

AI technologies are on a hype, but many applications such as Generative AI are already going down after passing the peak of inflated expectations. Any mega investor in AI such as Microsoft claiming that “SaaS is dead” is either biased or frighten because of their risky bets. Serious analysts and experts reveal serious shortcoming (hallucinations being the most popular), with only selected AI use cases to be productized over the next 5 to 10 years.

I already see most SaaS companies adapt and thrive riding on AI wave, keeping even closer to their customers due to their business models. Such dynamic SaaS firms embrace, embed and drive AI, but for use cases that add customer value.

On another side I see so many large providers embedding AI assistants into all of their solution, building senseless AI powered gizmos, generating tons of tasteless drawings and questionable content at scale, while pushing on us to consume them and become even more dependent on their solutions – shame on them.

The SaaS industry isn’t dead yet—it’s evolving. Traditional one-size-fits-all models allow for specialized, modular solutions tailored to specific industries or problems. Companies need flexibility, ability to work together and greater value from SaaS providers, who are driving innovation in areas such as AI integration, predictive analytics, vertical SaaS platforms…

At the same time, AI and low-code tools are advancing. This makes it easy to create SaaS products in just a few clicks and adding a payment system. This ease of development has resulted in many spammy, single-task SaaS offerings cluttering the market. These low-quality solutions often act as a barrier between users and true value-driven SaaS companies. This makes it difficult for legitimate providers to cut through the noise and effectively market their solutions or acquire new users.

In short, SaaS is not dead; It is growing into a more user-centric and dynamic model. But to explore this crowded landscape, established companies must double down on differentiation, transparency, and measurable value. In order to grow into the next phase of the industry.

Satya Nadella’s claim that “SaaS is dead” feels overly generalized and, in my view, misses the bigger picture of where the world is heading. Today, everything is shifting towards “as a service”—from smartphones and laptops to entire business processes—all offered on subscription models. This trend reflects a broader movement away from ownership and towards accessibility, flexibility, and scalability.

In this context, Software as a Service is not only alive but remains a cornerstone of this transformation. SaaS represents the foundation of how businesses and individuals access tools and solutions in an increasingly digital world.

That said, SaaS must evolve. Emerging technologies like AI and agentic AI present opportunities to enhance SaaS applications, enabling them to automate, adapt, and deliver even greater value. The future of SaaS lies not in its demise, but in its ability to integrate these innovations and redefine how we experience “as a service” solutions.

This has been a universal principle for all businesses (with very few exceptions) for centuries.
With AI, robots, and all the technology, but more importantly ever changing customer expectations and behaviors (B2B and B2C), all businesses must adapt and grow, otherwise they will always die. This has been so for centuries and will continue to be so, just like civilizations, governments and even nations, no difference.

Will the SaaS business model die?

Many SAAS businesses will but not the SAAS model.
Will the likes of Adobe, Hubspot, Dropbox, Shopify die? You can add hundreds of businesses that are unlikely to die but you can add thousands of SAAS products that will die.

Which SaaS businesses will survive or die… and why?

You get the picture, know the answer already.
Those businesses which are reading the changing user trends, behaviors, expectations AND… leveraging the latest AI and tech will grow. And others will die.

It is not one size fits all… Can you use ChatGPT today to replace Hubspot or Dropbox or Adobe? No, you may use ChatGPT for content generation to use in Hubspot emailing or social posts but you will still use Hubspot as the end product. And what will, if not already, Hubspot do – leverage AI to generate that content working with OpenAI.
Why do we still use these SaaS tools like Hubspot? Because it is purpose built, its user interface is friendly, etc. You know far better vs what I write here.

Is there opportunity for new SaaS?

There is a big one. Create demand or just cater to the emerging requirements driven by the ever changing customer expectations and behaviors, by leveraging the latest tech.

Did anyone think of storing files in the cloud 20 years ago? We were all buying hard drives, servers, NAS was progressing.

Were you able to create an app code-free?

We were all hunting for developers to even create an MVP to show to the investors.

AI can certainly turbocharge many business processes. However, it’s not a silver bullet. Not every workflow or challenge is best solved by AI.

SaaS solutions remain indispensable for their specialized capabilities, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. These platforms continue to power key business functions, without the need for heavy upfront infrastructure investments.

Despite fears that AI might replace traditional systems, Agentic AI isn’t poised to replace SaaS. Instead, the two will work in harmony. AI can augment SaaS platforms by adding smarter features, while SaaS offers streamlined, reliable solutions where AI might not be the best fit.

In the coming months, there’s no doubt AI will play a central role in shaping SaaS platforms. It will drive more tailored solutions and deeper integrations that help businesses make smarter decisions faster. By weaving AI into SaaS, companies can offer highly personalised experiences, automate complex tasks and unlock insights that were once out of reach.

I anticipate SaaS will continue thriving in the near future. We live in a fast-paced world where the benefits of accessibility, flexibility, scalability & speed this business model provides are critical. What I think will change is how companies approach it.

The focus will shift to delivering real value, improving customer experiences and building sustainable growth, rather than simply chasing scale.