Simply adding a generative AI co-pilot is now table stakes for SaaS companies. The founder argues the next evolution is 'agentic AI' — systems that don't just provide insights but autonomously perform tasks and make decisions for the user, like qualifying and actioning a sales lead.
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The evolution of 'agentic AI' extends beyond content generation to automating the connective tissue of business operations. Its future value is in initiating workflows that span departments, such as kickstarting creative briefs for marketing, creating product backlogs from feedback, and generating service tickets, streamlining operational handoffs.
The new generation of AI automates workflows, acting as "teammates" for employees. This creates entirely new, greenfield markets focused on productivity gains for every individual, representing a TAM potentially 10x larger than the previous SaaS era, which focused on replacing existing systems of record.
The emergence of personal AI assistants that can be integrated with private data (email, Slack) and execute tasks (send emails, build CRMs) represents a new paradigm. This moves AI from a passive research tool to an active, autonomous agent capable of performing complex knowledge work, fundamentally changing productivity.
Turing's CEO claims SaaS is dead for two reasons. First, powerful foundation models drastically lower the cost of building custom software internally. Second, existing SaaS products are built for human interaction via GUIs, not for AI agents that will increasingly use APIs and tool-calling functions directly.
Instead of focusing on foundational models, software engineers should target the creation of AI "agents." These are automated workflows designed to handle specific, repetitive business chores within departments like customer support, sales, or HR. This is where companies see immediate value and are willing to invest.
The future of software isn't just AI-powered features. It's a fundamental shift from tools that assist humans to autonomous agents that perform tasks. Human roles will evolve from *doing* the work to *orchestrating* thousands of these agents.
The transition from AI as a productivity tool (co-pilot) to an autonomous agent integrated into team workflows represents a quantum leap in value creation. This shift from efficiency enhancement to completing material tasks independently is where massive revenue opportunities lie.
Instead of interacting with SaaS GUIs (like Greenhouse for hiring), users will interact with AI agents. These agents will directly manipulate the underlying system-of-record data, managing entire workflows from a simple conversation and making the traditional SaaS application redundant.
The next evolution of enterprise AI isn't conversational chatbots but "agentic" systems that act as augmented digital labor. These agents perform complex, multi-step tasks from natural language commands, such as creating a training quiz from a 700-page technical document.
The paradigm shift with AI agents is from "tools to click buttons in" (like CRMs) to autonomous systems that work for you in the background. This is a new form of productivity, akin to delegating tasks to a team member rather than just using a better tool yourself.
