Will AI Kill Software? Why the SaaSpocalypse Is Wrong (And What's Actually Changing)
Apps may fade into the background. Software won’t. Wall Street has a new consensus: AI is about to kill the software industry. Software stocks are down nearly 30% since the start of the year; pundits call it the SaaSpocalypse. But the story is wrong. AI is rewriting who builds software and how we pay for it—not eliminating it. This piece looks at why the real moats (data, workflows, habits) are getting deeper, how “Software as a Service” is turning into “Service as Software,” and what that means for builders and buyers. Two 19-year-old high schoolers built an AI calorie-tracking app called Cal AI that brought in over $30 million a year; it was recently acquired by MyFitnessPal. The deal size was not disclosed, but the two clearly came out on top. On another front, Cursor, the fastest-growing AI coding company in history and less than five years old, was reported in February to have passed $2 billion in annualized revenue. Whether we talk about AI companies that build apps or the AI-powered apps already in the world, the outlook seems bright. ...