Selling an efficiency-focused SaaS tool is harder than ever. CIOs are cutting classic SaaS tools while expanding their AI budget. Any remaining efficiency spend is being consumed by price hikes from giants like Salesforce, leaving no room for new, non-AI vendors.

An internal AWS document reveals that startups are diverting budgets toward AI models and inference, delaying adoption of traditional cloud services like compute and storage. This suggests AI spend is becoming a substitute for, not an addition to, core infrastructure costs, posing a direct threat to AWS's startup market share.

Companies like Notion and Datadog are re-accelerating by targeting new, dedicated AI budgets. This is separate from shrinking 'efficiency tool' budgets. Growth comes from solving problems that unlock this specific new spending category, not just adding a minor AI feature.

While AI expands software's capabilities, vendors may not capture the value. Companies could use AI to build solutions in-house more cheaply. Furthermore, traditional "per-seat" pricing models are undermined when AI reduces the number of employees required, potentially shrinking revenue even as the software delivers more value.

For established software companies with sluggish growth, the path forward is clear: find a way to become relevant in the age of AI. While they may not become the next Harvey, attaching to AI spend can boost growth from 15% to 25%, the difference between a viable public company and a sale to a private equity firm.

Enterprise software budgets are growing, but the money is being reallocated. CIOs are forced to cut functional, "good-to-have" apps to pay for price increases from core vendors and to fund new AI tools. This means even happy customers of non-mission-critical software may churn as budgets are redirected to top priorities.

AI is making core software functionality nearly free, creating an existential crisis for traditional SaaS companies. The old model of 90%+ gross margins is disappearing. The future will be dominated by a few large AI players with lower margins, alongside a strategic shift towards monetizing high-value services.

Historically, labor costs dwarfed software spending. As AI automates tasks, software budgets will balloon, turning into a primary corporate expense. This forces CFOs to scrutinize software ROI with the same rigor they once applied only to their workforce.

A massive budget shift is underway where companies spend exponentially more on AI agents than on foundational software like CRM. One small team spends $500k annually on AI agents versus just $10k on Salesforce, signaling a tectonic shift in software value and spending priorities.