No SaaS! How AI Brokers Will Change Software program Pricing by @ttunguz

In a world the place AI brokers are 2.5-3x as productive as people, which might parallel mechanical robots, how does a software program firm value?

Constructing on yesterday’s publish, pricing in software program corporations could change considerably when AI brokers develop into the norm.

The SaaS enterprise mannequin of the final 20 years for SaaS is an exquisite one. Annual pay as you go contracts are free loans to software program corporations ; seat-based pricing is a tangible metric for pricing ; as a consumer grows so does this account, producing good web greenback retention.

What does a software program seat imply when a human is now not working the software program?

There a number of options :

1. Triple the per seat value : If the AI agent is 3x as productive as a human, the software program firm might cost 3x as a lot per seat. This could be a big enhance in value, however the worth of the software program could be a lot larger. Tripling costs might be a tough promote in a yr however maybe a gradual enhance over time would obtain this. Corporations might want to modify staffing plans & budgets.
2. Transfer to usage-based pricing : Jamin makes the case that AI software program might be priced like databases for the reason that AI is utilizing the database instantly. Simply as databases cost for compute, AI brokers will cost for compute. This aligns worth effectively, however could inject unpredictability into the pricing mannequin. It’s going to require altering gross sales compensation plans & buyer contracts, which
   database corporations have navigated efficiently. Consumers would must be educated.¹
3. Pay for efficiency : Some AI corporations are exploring charging for outcomes. If an AI agent replaces an SDR who’s compensated for conferences, then why not cost this manner? There are challenges right here too. If the corporate doesn’t use the product in essentially the most optimum means & efficiency suffers, ought to the contract shrink in worth?

It’s going to take time for each distributors & prospects to know the implications for each productiveness & expense.

However for the primary time since Slack began providing billing on energetic seats, new pricing fashions present a strategic choice to startups seeking to compete with incumbents.

Salesforce made well-known the No-Software program mantra competing on pricing.

The now-classic seat primarily based mannequin disrupted the perpetual license mannequin. Maybe utilization or efficiency pricing would be the catalyst for a brand new period of upstarts displacing incumbents.

Perhaps we’ll see a No-SaaS insurgent replicate Marc Benioff’s playbook.

¹I think about each usage-based pricing and pay for efficiency might be structured as a Two-Half Tariff with some base degree of dedication to clean income & money flows.