Rob what do you make of Satya Nadella's much-hyped recent prediction that AI will be able to create cheap drop-in replacements for lots of SaaS apps that are just biz logic & CRUD connecting multiple databases, putting those SaaS vendors out of business?
I’ve worked on a few SaaS apps. Some simple ones might be vulnerable to this. But many are not, especially industry-specific B2B apps. I work for a SaaS company in the childcare space in Australia. A big part of my job is doing meetings with the government department that subsidises childcare and with the high-ups of childcare corporate chains to understand what they actually need the software to do. Often times they aren’t capable of clearly describing what they need. Other times, the government subsidy policy is internally contradictory in narrow edge cases. Solving these problems requires engineers who can truly empathise with the customer in order to understand their needs more clearly than the customer themselves. That kind of empathy is something AI will never be great at.
@BodhiSoftMobileApps That's an interesting prediction from Satya, but I'm skeptical about AI completely replacing human-built SaaS apps in the near term. While AI will automate some aspects, there's still significant value in domain expertise, user experience design, and the human touch in solving specific business problems. I'd encourage SaaS founders to focus on building deeper, more specialized solutions that go beyond basic CRUD operations to stay ahead of potential AI disruption.
Also, random question. It seems you typically record while standing. Is that just a personal preference or do you feel more energized to record while on your feet? I might start my own YT channel sometime, so just asking.
Hey @same.7939, great question! Yes, I do prefer to record standing up - it helps me feel more energized and engaged, which I think comes across in the videos. If you're starting a TH-cam channel, I'd recommend trying both sitting and standing to see what feels most natural for you.
@ that makes a lot of sense! Even in work meetings, I feel more agile when on my feet so that’s a good hack! Thank you. I will try out both once I get my new channel going!
@drstarson The shift towards in-chat search is gaining momentum. It'll be fascinating to see how this impacts SEO and content discovery in the coming years.
Rob I think another word you're looking for like "smart" is "automated." I agree that software buyers are going to soon start rolling their eyes everytime they hear "AI-powered" or "AI-assisted."
@same.7939 "Automated" is another term that captures the essence of where SaaS is heading. And I couldn't agree more about the potential fatigue with AI buzzwords.
@RapidProductGrowth While AI will certainly automate many aspects of sales, I believe there will always be value in human connection, especially for complex B2B sales. We might see a shift towards more high-touch, strategic in-person interactions for deals where the personal element really matters.
@Cygx You're right, Google's speed is definitely a key factor in its continued dominance. While AI might revolutionize search in the coming years, it's hard to beat that lightning-fast response time we're all used to.
I think when you have models and ai systems getting closer and closer to human. There is less and less room for b2b saas to survive. I guess starting to use AI to start your own business or find some jobs/ consultant contracts for building ai employees for the business owners would make more sense. I don't know when this will happen, but it certainly will. Or maybe we could just wait for UBI to come. XD
Great points, @SimonNgai-d3u. While AI is certainly changing the landscape, I believe there will always be room for innovative B2B SaaS solutions that solve real problems. The key will be adapting and leveraging AI to enhance our offerings.
It's a bittersweet observation. The democratization of content creation through organic search and platforms like TH-cam, Instagram, and others empowered countless artists and storytellers, giving them unprecedented independence and reach. They no longer needed the backing of major publishers or studios to make a living or share their work with the world. But the digital landscape is shifting rapidly. Algorithmic curation, the rise of AI-generated content, and pay-to-play dynamics are changing how content is discovered and consumed. The playing field is tilting again, and smaller creators may find competing harder unless they can adapt. While there’s hope in the resilience and creativity of independent artists, it's also a reminder that no digital revolution remains static. What do you think could help preserve this ecosystem for independent creators?
Great observation, @RyanRoth-p4q. You're right, it's a complex shift we're seeing. As someone who's been in the independent creator space for years, I've witnessed these changes firsthand. The key for creators will be to stay nimble, focus on building direct relationships with their audience, and potentially explore new platforms or revenue models.
Really agree with the "AI" term leaning towards a negative vibe. Like all new trends when over used. In technology, the Gartner Hype Cycle says that new technologies often go through a phase of inflated expectations (the "peak of inflated expectations") followed by disillusionment (the "trough of disillusionment") before reaching a more balanced understanding of its value. At the current rate of AI expansion who know how long this "Honeymoon period" could last. Its evolving so rapidly we might not see the stabilization for a long time. Every time we think we know what we dealing with we make another multiple factor leap forward. The only certainty is uncertainty.
@jm3279z3 You're right that Google's search quality has been a hot topic lately. While they're still the dominant player, it opens up opportunities for startups to innovate in search and adjacent spaces.
I think there is going to be a reckoning coming to AI in terms of their monetization of answers/responses in terms of content creators - who provide a good bulk of the data it is trained on - no longer will have as strong of a benefit or motivation to do it... it will neither drive traffic to their sites nor give their site any "authority"... etc... I don't believe the AI companies are going to have a free lunch in their "use" of content forever... especially as we get into more and more media produced by models trained by others artwork/creative experience.
Great point, @danielohirsch. The impact of AI on content creators and monetization is definitely a significant trend to watch. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and what new models emerge for creators to protect and monetize their work in an AI-driven landscape.
@ArchitecturalAesthetics2046 LLMs are already showing significant real-world utility across various industries, unlike the speculative nature of many crypto and NFT projects.
@danielohirsch AI is definitely changing the content marketing landscape. But I believe there's still immense value in authentic, experience-based stories that only humans can truly tell. The key is leveraging AI while maintaining that genuine human touch.
@ilgaralizada7206 While AI will certainly impact ERPs, I think we'll see more of a transformation than destruction. AI agents are likely to enhance and streamline ERP systems rather than replace them entirely.
@anand13 If by “completely misinformed” you mean “off by 10 or 20%,” then you are correct. The broader point about platform risk and the increasing power of big tech platforms still stands. Advertising as a whole, including on YT, is about 80% these days. The other 20% comes from their cloud, hardware, and subscription services. Note that doesn’t change the points made in the video.
I'm totally agreed with you! Google will lose a big part of the ads revenue in 2025
Rob what do you make of Satya Nadella's much-hyped recent prediction that AI will be able to create cheap drop-in replacements for lots of SaaS apps that are just biz logic & CRUD connecting multiple databases, putting those SaaS vendors out of business?
I’ve worked on a few SaaS apps. Some simple ones might be vulnerable to this. But many are not, especially industry-specific B2B apps.
I work for a SaaS company in the childcare space in Australia. A big part of my job is doing meetings with the government department that subsidises childcare and with the high-ups of childcare corporate chains to understand what they actually need the software to do.
Often times they aren’t capable of clearly describing what they need. Other times, the government subsidy policy is internally contradictory in narrow edge cases.
Solving these problems requires engineers who can truly empathise with the customer in order to understand their needs more clearly than the customer themselves.
That kind of empathy is something AI will never be great at.
Satya had to keep the hype train going. The world doesn't pay attention to realistic predictions.
@BodhiSoftMobileApps That's an interesting prediction from Satya, but I'm skeptical about AI completely replacing human-built SaaS apps in the near term. While AI will automate some aspects, there's still significant value in domain expertise, user experience design, and the human touch in solving specific business problems. I'd encourage SaaS founders to focus on building deeper, more specialized solutions that go beyond basic CRUD operations to stay ahead of potential AI disruption.
Wow amazing predictions ...esp Ad ecosystem
Also, random question. It seems you typically record while standing. Is that just a personal preference or do you feel more energized to record while on your feet? I might start my own YT channel sometime, so just asking.
Hey @same.7939, great question! Yes, I do prefer to record standing up - it helps me feel more energized and engaged, which I think comes across in the videos. If you're starting a TH-cam channel, I'd recommend trying both sitting and standing to see what feels most natural for you.
@ that makes a lot of sense! Even in work meetings, I feel more agile when on my feet so that’s a good hack! Thank you. I will try out both once I get my new channel going!
100% agree with #1 - Google Search will be replaced by in-chat search
@drstarson The shift towards in-chat search is gaining momentum. It'll be fascinating to see how this impacts SEO and content discovery in the coming years.
Rob I think another word you're looking for like "smart" is "automated." I agree that software buyers are going to soon start rolling their eyes everytime they hear "AI-powered" or "AI-assisted."
@same.7939 "Automated" is another term that captures the essence of where SaaS is heading. And I couldn't agree more about the potential fatigue with AI buzzwords.
Rob, you're so reasonable. Do you think AI will push us to more in person sales when everything AI'd to the max?
@RapidProductGrowth While AI will certainly automate many aspects of sales, I believe there will always be value in human connection, especially for complex B2B sales. We might see a shift towards more high-touch, strategic in-person interactions for deals where the personal element really matters.
@@MicroConf Yeah, that's what my gut says too. To cope with the marketing noise, we're going to see more manual dream 100 type sales processes.
Agree with all
Sad to say cuz my wife works in Google ads lol
google is still faster search, thats the only reason why I still use it
@Cygx You're right, Google's speed is definitely a key factor in its continued dominance. While AI might revolutionize search in the coming years, it's hard to beat that lightning-fast response time we're all used to.
I think when you have models and ai systems getting closer and closer to human. There is less and less room for b2b saas to survive.
I guess starting to use AI to start your own business or find some jobs/ consultant contracts for building ai employees for the business owners would make more sense. I don't know when this will happen, but it certainly will. Or maybe we could just wait for UBI to come. XD
Great points, @SimonNgai-d3u. While AI is certainly changing the landscape, I believe there will always be room for innovative B2B SaaS solutions that solve real problems. The key will be adapting and leveraging AI to enhance our offerings.
It's a bittersweet observation. The democratization of content creation through organic search and platforms like TH-cam, Instagram, and others empowered countless artists and storytellers, giving them unprecedented independence and reach. They no longer needed the backing of major publishers or studios to make a living or share their work with the world.
But the digital landscape is shifting rapidly. Algorithmic curation, the rise of AI-generated content, and pay-to-play dynamics are changing how content is discovered and consumed. The playing field is tilting again, and smaller creators may find competing harder unless they can adapt.
While there’s hope in the resilience and creativity of independent artists, it's also a reminder that no digital revolution remains static. What do you think could help preserve this ecosystem for independent creators?
Great observation, @RyanRoth-p4q. You're right, it's a complex shift we're seeing. As someone who's been in the independent creator space for years, I've witnessed these changes firsthand. The key for creators will be to stay nimble, focus on building direct relationships with their audience, and potentially explore new platforms or revenue models.
Really agree with the "AI" term leaning towards a negative vibe. Like all new trends when over used. In technology, the Gartner Hype Cycle says that new technologies often go through a phase of inflated expectations (the "peak of inflated expectations") followed by disillusionment (the "trough of disillusionment") before reaching a more balanced understanding of its value. At the current rate of AI expansion who know how long this "Honeymoon period" could last. Its evolving so rapidly we might not see the stabilization for a long time. Every time we think we know what we dealing with we make another multiple factor leap forward. The only certainty is uncertainty.
towards???? AI has been negative for 99% of companies. extra cost, almost no value add.
Interesting
Google has had terrible search results for the last two years or so. They have failed in its core business.
Totally right. Google is worsening and AI is improving at the same time.
@jm3279z3 You're right that Google's search quality has been a hot topic lately. While they're still the dominant player, it opens up opportunities for startups to innovate in search and adjacent spaces.
I think there is going to be a reckoning coming to AI in terms of their monetization of answers/responses in terms of content creators - who provide a good bulk of the data it is trained on - no longer will have as strong of a benefit or motivation to do it... it will neither drive traffic to their sites nor give their site any "authority"... etc...
I don't believe the AI companies are going to have a free lunch in their "use" of content forever... especially as we get into more and more media produced by models trained by others artwork/creative experience.
Great point, @danielohirsch. The impact of AI on content creators and monetization is definitely a significant trend to watch. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and what new models emerge for creators to protect and monetize their work in an AI-driven landscape.
Curious, you built this presentation and could come up with terms that supposedly are going to replace AI? Did you try asking GPT for help? 😂
Nft and crypto did not have nearly the amt of utility that llm offers.
@ArchitecturalAesthetics2046 LLMs are already showing significant real-world utility across various industries, unlike the speculative nature of many crypto and NFT projects.
Fun fact my saas appears in LLM more than SEO
@AbdulAziz-bw2dz That's fascinating, thanks for sharing! It's a great example of how quickly the tech landscape is changing.
Almost none of these are prediction regarding SaaS and most just sound like you’ve plucked them from Reddit…
So AI is taking out some of the efficacy of story based/content marketing...
@danielohirsch AI is definitely changing the content marketing landscape. But I believe there's still immense value in authentic, experience-based stories that only humans can truly tell. The key is leveraging AI while maintaining that genuine human touch.
1st
2nd
Clickbait - doesnt answer the question on the title "Is SaaS dead"?
Only #1 is a prediction relevant for SaaS
They're all relevant if you think about *selling* SaaS.
ERP market will be destroyed by AI agents
could you elaborate on that?
@ilgaralizada7206 While AI will certainly impact ERPs, I think we'll see more of a transformation than destruction. AI agents are likely to enhance and streamline ERP systems rather than replace them entirely.
Directionally you’re correct, but you’re completely misinformed on Google’s revenue and how they generate it
What's the misinformation? Google does make money by connecting advertisers to traffic.
@anand13 If by “completely misinformed” you mean “off by 10 or 20%,” then you are correct.
The broader point about platform risk and the increasing power of big tech platforms still stands. Advertising as a whole, including on YT, is about 80% these days. The other 20% comes from their cloud, hardware, and subscription services.
Note that doesn’t change the points made in the video.