Good morning. Fears that AI could render traditional software vendors obsolete triggered a broad SaaS and cloud sell-off in February, a rout that some investors dubbed “SaaSpocalypse.” The catalyst: Anthropic’s addition of a legal task plug-in to its Claude AI, which wiped roughly $285 billion in tech market value within 24 hours.
For CFOs and finance leaders, this moment isn’t about whether SaaS disappears. It’s about how the economics of software are changing, and what that means for the buy-versus-build calculus. In fact, AI may actually fuel the software industry rather than gut it.
As Kahn notes, by lowering the barriers to writing code, AI could unleash a new wave of companies building specialized business applications, no longer dependent on scarce, expensive coding talent. Finance leaders should expect a shift in value from standalone products to integrated ecosystems.
Is AI changing how you think about SaaS or just accelerating trends already underway? I’d like to hear how you’re approaching it. Send me an email.
