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.

6sense’s growth slowed because buyer behavior shifted. Buyers now expect AI to take autonomous action (systems of agents), not just provide data for a human to act on (systems of engagement). This fundamental shift threatens incumbent SaaS tools built around a human-in-the-loop workflow.

The traditional SaaS model provides customers with a tool to do a job. With agentic AI, companies can now sell the completed job as a service. This represents a fundamental shift in business models, where the value is the direct outcome, not the software.

Historically, software was built for predictable human workflows. Now, with AI agents executing thousands of unpredictable, low-latency queries simultaneously, product design must prioritize their needs. These agents will eventually select their own infrastructure, fundamentally changing the B2B buying process.

The current 'copilot' trend is just a stepping stone. The real disruption will come from the 'co-work era,' where autonomous agents handle complex workflows. SaaS companies merely adding AI features will be outcompeted unless they own a core system-of-record or have a truly defensible AI strategy.

When a new interaction model appears in a consumer AI app, a clock starts. B2B users will soon expect the same capabilities in their work tools. Product teams must treat these consumer trends as a timer, needing to build similar functionality to stay relevant and meet expectations.

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 success of new AI startups is driven by a desire among managers to replace human-led processes with autonomous agents. Customers don't want AI to make their teams slightly better; they want an agent that eliminates the need for the team entirely. This is a demand most incumbent software companies misunderstand and fail to serve.

As people grow accustomed to AI agents effortlessly handling complex tasks in their personal lives, their tolerance for clunky, manual enterprise software will decrease. This 'consumerization of AI' will create bottom-up pressure on B2B vendors to incorporate similar agentic and intuitive capabilities.