YOUR SaaS SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE ABOUT TO BECOME OBSOLETE- And frankly, it's about time

Andrew Blake
Jul 9
3 min read

Let's ruffle a few feathers, shall we?

I’ve spent years watching companies pour millions into software that was never designed to understand them. Month after month, we pay not just for software, but for compromise — for the friction of bending our workflows to fit rigid systems built for the lowest common denominator. This isn’t strategy. It’s surrender.

And I belive it's about to end. Not eventually. Now.

AI isn’t just disrupting the SaaS model — it’s obliterating the need for it. If you’re still building your digital future around traditional platforms, you’re not just behind. You’re betting on a model already past its prime.

SaaS Isn't Stable - It's Stagnant

Let’s dispense with the myth that the big SaaS vendors are irreplaceable. They’ve hidden behind “data moats” and flashy UI, but their core offering is increasingly brittle: generic templates, shallow customization, and sky-high pricing.

Ask yourself this: Why are we still tolerating software that gives us 80% of what we need, then charges a fortune to let us duct-tape the remaining 20%?

The truth? SaaS has become the landline in an era of smartphones. It worked, until something smarter came along.

A quiet revolution is underway. AI-native solutions are emerging, offering unprecedented agility and precision, poised to dismantle the old guard.

AI: Custom, Contextual, and Crushing the Competition

Here’s what’s really replacing SaaS — and it’s not just “AI-powered” dashboards slapped onto old systems. It’s a complete rethink of how software should serve us. The future isn't about adapting to a tool; it's about the tool adapting to you.

AI-Crafted Microapps: Tools like Bolt and Replit now allow teams (yes, even non-technical ones) to spin up custom applications in minutes from a simple prompt. No dev backlog. No procurement nightmare. Just perfectly tailored functionality at a fraction of the cost.
Intelligent Automation: SaaS "integrations" were always clumsy at best. But platforms like Pipedream, Make, and n8n are different — they don’t just move data, they understand it. AI now enriches workflows in real-time, making traditional UI-based tools feel laughably outdated.
The Rise of the Semantic Layer: This is where it gets really interesting. AI can now understand your business context in natural language. Want to run a report, spin up a campaign, or simulate a forecast? You won’t need to click through five nested menus. You’ll just ask — and the AI will do the rest.

Let me be clear: These aren’t futuristic experiments. This is happening now, and it’s accelerating fast, leading to a future where software interfaces become obsolete, replaced by autonomous AI agents that understand your intent and proactively execute tasks.

A Warning to SaaS Leaders - And the Execs Who Fund Them

If you’re a SaaS provider still clinging to a static product roadmap, sprinkle-in-some-AI demos, or hoping brand inertia will protect your margins — you’re on borrowed time.

And if you’re an enterprise leader signing another multi-year license without exploring AI-native alternatives, I have to ask: are you protecting your company, or just preserving the status quo?

Here's what you need to do, urgently:

Stop dismissing AI-native startups as toys – they're your replacements.
Don't settle for "AI-as-an-addon" – demand it at the core of your offering.
Design for change – embrace flexibility and reimagine your product's future with AI at its heart.

The uncomfortable truth is this: most of your SaaS stack is a legacy problem in the making.