Is AI Destroying SaaS?

What have you heard about AI agents?

It feels like every other headline is talking about how these autonomous systems are set to revolutionize everything, especially in the world of software and business.

We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents “join the workforce” and materially change the output of companies.— OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

or

The age of AI Agentics is here… a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about strategy, I see the potential in AI agents. But I also think we must cut through the hype and have an honest conversation about where things really stand today.

For the longest time, you and I have navigated a fragmented digital world.

We jump into our CRM for customer details, hop over to the HR portal to request time off, and wrestle with spreadsheets to analyze product data. We've even gotten pretty good at stitching these systems together with tools like Zapier or Mulesoft, creating intricate, choreographed dances between applications.

Now, we're told something far more profound is coming— Agentic AI.

These aren't just simple automation; the promise is of systems that can reason, remember, and act independently. The buzz suggests they could reshape software economics even more dramatically than the Internet or the cloud did.

I am in a network of Saas CEOs hosted by a consulting firm I work with. Whether agentic AI will replace Saas is a question repeated nearly weekly.

I get it, the recent development of agentic AI (such as Manus.im) seems promising.

It's a compelling yet scary vision of the future, but before we get carried away, let's take a hard look at the agents we have now. Is agentic AI truly the autonomous powerhouses we imagine, or are they still just the opening act?