Industries with historically low software adoption (like trial law or dentistry) are now viable markets. Instead of selling a tool, AI startups are selling an outcome—the automation of a specific labor role. This shifts the value proposition from a software expense to a direct labor cost replacement.

Customers are hesitant to trust a black-box AI with critical operations. The winning business model is to sell a complete outcome or service, using AI internally for a massive efficiency advantage while keeping humans in the loop for quality and trust.

Hanover Park's CEO argues the era of selling software tools is ending. The next wave of successful B2B companies will be "AI native services" that use agents to deliver concrete business outcomes, fundamentally shifting the model from selling tools to selling guaranteed results.

Founders are stuck in a SaaS mindset, selling tools to existing service providers. The bigger opportunity is to build new, AI-first service companies (e.g., accounting, legal) that use AI to deliver a superior end-to-end solution directly to customers.

Selling software tools puts companies in direct competition with ever-improving foundation models. Sequoia Capital's Julien Bek argues the defensible play is to build a "software business that masquerades as a services firm," selling completed work and capturing the larger services market.

The business model is shifting from selling software to selling outcomes. Instead of creating a tool and inviting users, create pre-trained agents that perform valuable work. Then, invite companies to a workspace where this 'team' of AI employees is ready to start delivering value immediately.

The most profitable way to leverage AI tools without code is to package their output as a managed service. Instead of selling access to an AI, sell lead generation, process automation, or financial analysis on a monthly retainer, with the AI doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

An AI-native service provider goes directly to the end customer, bypassing intermediaries. They offer a superior result (e.g., faster, cheaper cybersecurity) at a lower price, making the switch an easy decision by solving the entire problem.

Thrive Capital invested in an AI-powered accounting firm, not an accounting AI software tool. Their thesis is that in some industries, the service provider who uses AI to become hyper-efficient will capture more value than software vendors selling tools to a fragmented customer base. This is a bet on the business model, not just the technology.