We’ve all seen the headlines: "AI is helping developers code faster."
That is a half-truth
The whole truth is more disruptive: AI isn't just "helping" us code; it’s making the act of writing code an invisible background process
And as code becomes a commodity, the multi-billion dollar SaaS industry is the next domino to fall
1. The Death of the "Coder" (As We Know It)
For decades, we treated code like a sacred craft
You needed a specific syntax, a specific degree, and years of experience to build a basic workflow
Today, the Large Language Model (LLM) has turned code into "disposable infrastructure."
When I can prompt an agent to build a custom data-scraping tool, run it, and then discard it, all in 30 seconds, I no longer need a developer to "build" a product
I need an architect to "direct" an outcome
The shift: We are moving from Software Engineering to Intent Engineering.
2. The Great SaaS Liquidation
If I can generate the functionality of a specialized SaaS tool, like a CRM, a ticket manager, or a social media scheduler, within my own AI environment, why am I paying $50/user/month for it?
We are entering the era of "Just-in-Time Software."
Old World: You buy a monolithic SaaS app because it has the "logic" and "interface" you need
New World: You bring your data to an LLM, and the AI generates the logic and interface on the fly
3. From "Per-Seat" to "Per-Outcome"
The SaaS model is built on “seats”, charging for the number of humans clicking buttons
But what happens when the humans stop clicking?
When Klarna famously announced it was moving away from 1,200 internal SaaS tools (including giants like Salesforce) in favour of internal AI-built systems, they weren't just saving on license fees
They were breaking the "SaaS Silo."
The Bottom Line
The "moat" for software companies used to be their code
That moat is currently being drained
In 2026, the value isn't in the tool you provide; it’s in the proprietary data you hold and the outcome your AI can guarantee
If your business model depends on a human logging into a dashboard to perform a manual task, you aren't a tech company anymore. You’re a legacy artifact
The future isn't "Software as a Service." It’s "Intelligence as an Outcome."
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