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'The SaaS apocalypse is overrated': How Workday and other software providers plan to survive AI

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Why This Matters

Despite fears of a 'SaaS apocalypse,' industry leaders like Workday are strategically adapting to AI-driven disintermediation by focusing on core capabilities and innovation. This shift signifies a transformative period where AI agents will increasingly handle enterprise tasks, reshaping revenue models and user interactions. For consumers and businesses, understanding these changes is crucial as they influence software accessibility, costs, and operational efficiency in the future.

Key Takeaways

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ZDNET's key takeaways

Agentic AI will disrupt enterprise software revenue models.

The SaaS apocalypse is overrated, but disintermediation is real.

Providers are honing their core capabilities to stay relevant.

An AI transformation that could disrupt the established hierarchy is playing out behind the scenes of the technology industry.

In this revolution, the enterprise applications that professionals rely on every day could be disintermediated, meaning AI agents would become the primary way businesses access those services, while new relationships with AI firms, their models, and their capabilities redefine how end users interact with IT.

Also: The new enterprise AI expert every company needs - and why

Technology analyst Gartner says agentic AI is set to disrupt enterprise software revenue models, with up to $234 billion in application spending exposed to agentic arbitrage -- where agents complete tasks across multiple systems, reducing the need for users to interact with traditional interfaces -- between now and 2030.

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