Navigating Turbulence in B2B SaaS: Challenges and AI's Rising Influence

There was recently a seismic shift in sentiment in the B2B SaaS sector when Salesforce, the bellwether of the sector, lost 20 per cent in a single day (the biggest single day loss since it went public in 2004). And make no mistake, it was not just Salesforce announcing poor earnings. There has been a flood of underwhelming B2B SaaS earnings and Wall Street seems to have finally begun to question some of the underlying assumptions of the sector.

The Unsettling Wave of Earnings Reports

Salesforce’s earnings bite was hardly an outlier; since then, a who’s who of B2B SaaS companies – Asana, Atlassian, DataDog, Snowflake, Twilio and Workday – have all sung a similar tune about scaling back guidance. The collective revision of guidance has left investors and industry observers wondering what’s going on in the sector, and how the business model for B2B SaaS might be changing.

AI: A Threat or a Misunderstood Ally?

The combination of AI and software also raises broader issues about the future of software. After all, Marc Andreessen’s infamous claim that ‘software is eating the world’, made back in 2011, now seems contested by the very real possibility that AI is also about to eat software. If Chris Paik is correct that ‘the end of software is nigh’, then perhaps the enterprise of tomorrow really will run on a different set of systems: not SaaS, but agile systems using AI.

But that doesn’t mean that an AI takeover isn’t still looming over the horizon. As the performances of LLMs such as GPT and Github’s Copilot show, we might be closer than we think to such a future, but there is a daunting continuum of software-development needs, from basic maths to logical reasoning, that AI has yet to even remotely convince anyone are getting indecently close to being solved.

A Balanced Perspective on AI's Role

This isn’t all doom and gloom. Venture capitalists such as Deedy Das argue that augmenting human productivity and automating repetitive tasks are more realistic prospects for AI in the near future, although some have indeed been delivered, than the complete automation of knowledge workers. Sure, AI might be able to write software, but that doesn’t mean a software engineer can’t.

The Real Culprits: Over-Hiring and the COVID Aftermath

Perhaps the recent turn in B2B SaaS fortunes has little to do with technological disruption at all and everything to do with hubris. The period of rapid hiring that followed the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic has given way to massive layoffs, as companies seek to rightsize their employees in response to changed market conditions. As recent layoffs demonstrate, many SaaS companies still rely on per-seat pricing models for revenues. That’s one of the challenges for the industry for which the reckoning is much closer at hand.

AI Integration as a Catalyst for Growth

B2B SaaS companies that embrace AI early and integrate it into their products can find a silver lining. Firms such as Appfolio, AppLovin, Q2 Holdings and Zeta demonstrate how early adoption can not only slow declines across the industry, but also supercharge growth. The ones that get it right can offer better performance than the less agile competitors.

The Future Trajectory of B2B SaaS

For the short- to medium-term future, the outlook for B2B SaaS might be clouded by economic forces and operational adjustments. However, SaaS, when outfitted with AI, has the potential for decades of growth far ahead of it. As the economy normalises, innovation – not cost-cutting – will eventually return to the forefront.

Clarifying SHARP Misconceptions

Etymologically, sharp in this context refers to ‘having a straight or pointed edge or tip or corners’. In this B2B SaaS context, sharp refers to the sudden and significant events that lead to a dramatic impact on the value of a stock fall or a drastic need to operate differently in view of the economic and technology changes facing the B2B SaaS sector. The ability to discern and navigate through the significant sharp movements and adjustments is critical to the future of the B2B SaaS sector.

What the immediate days, weeks and months hold for B2B SaaS companies is uncertain. However, as they navigate these near-term pressures, the thoughtful, strategic deployment of AI presents a lush, green path to rejuvenation and expansion for SaaS companies. Those who can embrace that change and innovation will have a significant and sustainable advantage.