Since 1999, Software as a Service (SaaS) has been the foundation of Salesforce, enabling businesses to manage data, automate workflows, and operate more efficiently—without the hassle of installing complex software.

But over two decades later, SaaS is no longer a novelty. In the midst of rapid technological change, a growing number of people are asking: Is artificial intelligence (AI) replacing SaaS? And if so, does this mark the end of an era that once defined tech innovation?

Did Satya Nadella say SaaS is "wiped out"?

Recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared some thought-provoking perspectives on the future of SaaS—especially as agentic AI gains momentum.

While he didn’t explicitly say “SaaS is dead,” his remarks have sparked debate across the tech world. In a conversation with Bill Gurley on the Bg2 podcast, Nadella suggested that SaaS apps as we know them may no longer fit the new paradigm—where AI agents can handle most tasks.

He explained:

“All business logic will increasingly move to these agents. They can perform CRUD operations—Create, Read, Update, Delete—across multiple systems at once, without even needing to understand what the backend is.”

With AI managing all the logic and data handling, many are beginning to question the need for traditional backend systems—once the backbone of SaaS.

When businesses start breaking up with SaaS

It’s not just Satya Nadella. Other major players are also re-evaluating SaaS.

In September 2024, Klarna’s CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced the company would stop using two major SaaS platforms: Salesforce and Workday. With the power of AI, he believes they can replace these platforms with more efficient internal solutions.

Freeing sales teams from form-filling fatigue

One reason SaaS—like Salesforce—became so successful was its ability to simplify data updates for sales teams, thanks to easy CRUD interfaces. But in practice, constant data entry has become a burden for many users.

Dominick DeFazio, winner of the Agentforce hackathon in NYC (November 2024), shared:

“Right after college, I worked at a startup that used Salesforce Classic. It took me up to 3 minutes to log a case after every call. I was completely fed up with filling out forms.”

To save time, he started using macros to automate the process.

Today, AI can handle that job. An AI agent can scan your emails, calendar, calls, and automatically update the necessary information—without employees needing to manually input every detail.

By 2025, it’s predicted that AI agents will be as widespread as cloud computing was in 1999—serving as a powerful assistant for tedious administrative work.

AI: SaaS killer or trusted partner?

While many fear AI will “wipe out” SaaS, some experts argue that AI won’t replace SaaS—it will enhance it.

Avanthika Ramesh, Director of Product at Salesforce AI, believes SaaS isn’t going anywhere. According to her, AI is simply automating the traditional workflows inside SaaS platforms.

“We’re seeing more and more tasks being handled automatically. In the future, AI agents will work quietly in the background—monitoring data and completing processes without human input,” she said.

“SaaS is dead”—bold truth or clever marketing?

Peter Chittum, Head of Developer Relations at Westview 1, believes it’s too soon to draw conclusions.

“Even Satya Nadella and the podcast guests admitted: we’ve never identified a tech revolution as early as we’re seeing with AI.”

Paul Battisson, CEO of Groundwork Apps, agrees that SaaS will evolve—not vanish.

“AI today mostly interacts via text, which doesn’t always work. In emergencies or for users with language barriers, visuals like dashboards and charts are still essential.”

He predicts a wave of AI tools built specifically to visualize data—moving beyond plain text outputs.

Paul also raises a key question: If Microsoft still earns nearly a quarter of its revenue from SaaS products like Office 365, do they really want SaaS to disappear? Maybe the statement “SaaS is dead” is more about grabbing attention than stating a fact.

Conclusion

In tech, nothing is permanent. What seems indispensable today could be outdated tomorrow. The key is to adapt and stay ready for change.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff understands this well. He’s betting big on Agentforce, believing that “digital labor” will be the next revolution in the workplace.

The future of SaaS remains uncertain. But if your job involves repetitive data entry, AI might save you time sooner than you think.

Are you ready to see how AI is reshaping the software world?
👉 Follow OMN1 Solution to stay ahead of the latest tech trends.
👉 Or contact us to explore tailored AI solutions for your business.