"A major problem for software companies is that their opponent is largely hypothetical. Even if both companies report blockbuster earnings, there's still the counterargument that AI will eventually eat their lunch."
"Salesforce: Marc Benioff's company is the prototypical enterprise software company. Customer relationship management systems are all about workflow and rely heavily on seat-based subscriptions. That makes Salesforce a prime target for AI automation and a bellwether for other software companies."
"Anthropic has played this game masterfully. The startup has strategically rolled out product announcements for its AI chatbot, Claude. The news has devastated entire industries despite there being no evidence of widespread adoption yet."
Software companies face severe market skepticism driven by AI concerns, with Salesforce and Snowflake stocks down 27% and 26% respectively this year. Both companies report earnings and attempt to counter narratives suggesting AI will render their services obsolete. The challenge for software firms is that their primary threat remains largely hypothetical—even strong earnings cannot fully address fears about future AI disruption. Salesforce, a prototypical enterprise software company relying on seat-based subscriptions, faces particular vulnerability to AI automation. The company has launched Agentforce, its own AI agents, to address competitive threats. Workday previously argued AI benefits rather than threatens software companies. Anthropic's strategic product announcements for Claude demonstrate how AI companies effectively shape market narratives despite limited adoption evidence.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]