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The Death of SaaS: Why the Licence Economy Is Being Repriced by AI

By Juan Beltrán · 2026-04-25

SaaS is not dying as software. What is dying is the economic privilege of charging per seat for generic capability. AI-assisted development and agentic execution are repricing enterprise software around outcomes, usage, and judgment about what should be built, bought, wrapped, or defended.

Key takeaways

  • The exposed part of SaaS is not all software. It is the gatekeeper model that charges for access to capability employees barely use.
  • The average enterprise now spends $4,830 per employee per year on SaaS while more than half of provisioned licences sit unused or underutilized.
  • AI-assisted development has made many internal workflows, dashboards, admin tools, and lightweight CRM/form systems cheaper to reproduce than to rent indefinitely.
  • The commercial architecture is moving from seats to outcomes: resolved cases, completed work units, consumed actions, and verified business results.
  • The executive response is portfolio discipline: rent what is defensible, replace what is generic, wrap legacy systems with agents, and defend systems of record with real moats.

About the author

Juan Beltrán writes about AI transformation, CRM, data analytics and digital growth for enterprise leaders in complex B2B industries. Head of Digital Marketing, ABB Energy Industries. 17+ years in enterprise transformation. Based in Zug, Switzerland.

Disclaimer

This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent ABB or any current or former employer. All content is based on public information, personal experience and general professional knowledge. No confidential, proprietary, client-specific or employer-specific information is shared.

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