The SaaSpocalypse isn’t killing software spend
Executive Take
Per-seat pricing breaks down once agents do the work instead of people clicking through it. Vendors that keep selling seats, not outcomes, will lose renewals to rivals offering flexible exits and usage-based terms.
Executive Summary
Gartner forecasts global software spend at $1.43 trillion in 2026, up over 15% year over year, contradicting talk of a SaaS collapse. Buyers now demand shorter contracts, data portability, and usage-based pricing instead of per-seat fees, since AI agents handle work without human clicks. SAP's Solution Manager, Process Integration and Process Orchestration retire by end of 2027, forcing a toolchain rebuild. Average large enterprises run about 660 SaaS apps.
Why It Matters
Technology and finance leaders need to rethink software contracts now, because per-seat pricing stops making sense when AI agents replace human users. CFOs rationalizing 660-app sprawl should use this leverage at renewal time, not after.
Bizquad Perspective
The real winners won't be AI feature vendors but the quiet infrastructure layer giving agents governed access and audit trails, a category most leaders aren't budgeting for yet.