In recent months, a new term has emerged strongly in Silicon Valley. The first time we read it was in an essay published by Capital Sequoia. But what exactly and why does it matter now?
“Service as sophware“Describe how new technologies based on artificial intelligence not only replace repetitive and structured tasks, but how they are also beginning to execute entire processes traditionally carried out by human teams. According to Sequoia Capital, this transformation could carry the potential market of hundreds of billions – the size of the current Saas market (software as a service) – to trillions of dollars, since now it can directly cover operational activities that were only possible through human effort.
The challenge to the traditional SaaS model
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, recently challenged the traditional paradigm of the software Business “Traditional business applications are basically databases with an additional layer of business rules,” he said. Ed Sim, from BoldstartIt highlights how smart agents are challenging this paradigm by offering reasoning, continuous learning and autonomous actions, reducing the need for traditional interfaces and rigid processes.
Andreessen Horowitz Add one more perspective when pointing out a crucial challenge: artificial intelligence companies tend to resemble traditional service companies than SAAS companies, facing minor gross margins (50-60%) compared to the 60-80%standard. These minor margins arise due to high infrastructure costs in the cloud and constant need for human intervention to maintain and adjust the models.
Reflection and key questions
This scenario opens great opportunities but also raises crucial strategic questions that require deep reflection:
- What new markets can address Startups If the budgets are no longer limited to technology, but include the vast universe of operational services?
- How should technological solutions be designed when the product is no longer a license to softwarebut tasks performed by digital agents?
- How will commercial dynamics, business models and sales strategies change in this new context?
- What budgetary and organizational adjustments should companies consider artificial intelligence as “digital employees” instead of simple technological tools?
Openai seeks that these advanced agents represent between 20 and 25% of their total income in the future.
A look to the future
Many established and emerging SAAS companies could disappear against this radical transformation. Organizations will no longer need so many complex and separate applications, but robust and well structured data platforms. Business logic will move to a cognitive layer, orchestrated mainly by intelligent agents with autonomous capabilities.
We will have to deeply rethink the role of human talent in companies, especially valuing those critical capacities that only people can offer in collaboration with intelligent agents. The strategic challenge will not only identify these opportunities, but to design structures, budgets and solutions that allow to effectively coexist human and machines in the same productive ecosystem.
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