When the Rules Change: AI’s Coming Disruption of the SaaS Era
Many years ago, when Amazon began scaling e-commerce, traditional retailers felt the early mini pressure. At first, many dismissed the shift as incremental, something that would coexist harmlessly with physical stores. But over time, Amazon did not just compete; it changed the very basis of competition. From Circuit City to JCPenney, the inflection points eventually arrived, and e-commerce fundamentally reshaped retail.
Today, AI is beginning to exert a similar force on SaaS (software) companies. If AI continues advancing at its current pace, many software-as-a-service models could face significant disruption over the next five years. This is not about resistance or preference; it is about a change in the operating rules of the market. Check IBM, ServiceNow, Salesforce and others in that space.
We have seen this pattern before, just as CDMA once disrupted legacy telephony, only for GSM to later overtake CDMA in Nigeria.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026).
Register for Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab.
The message is simple: pay close attention to what is unfolding in the AI ecosystem. The implications are far-reaching.