The SaaS-pocalypse can wait, Salesforce still has customers where it wants them

AI coding agents are expected to make software cheaper and faster to build by improving efficiency and enabling new workflows. Salesforce plans to spend about $300 million with Anthropic in 2026 to use coding agents. Salesforce also reduced hiring for software engineering and cut thousands of support staff while investing in AI agent platforms. Salesforce expects to monetize AI agent adoption with high-margin opportunities and may accept short-term losses on capped-price deals, relying on long-term customer value. Gartner warned that capped enterprise agreements for AI and data platforms may not be available at renewal, creating uncertainty about costs and value. Salesforce stated that capped agreement changes are inaccurate and that renewals remain flexible, with terms tailored as AI compute costs shift.

"“Everything's gonna be cheaper to make, it's more efficient,” he told the show. “I can do things that I just could not do before. I can go faster than ever before. I can implement my software and sell it at the same time. I can break through obstacles that I've had because I have coding agents and humans working together.”"

"So what's Salesforce doing with the money it's saving? It's not going to the customer, it seems. In 2025, Benioff told investors he saw a “ very high margin opportunity” in users adopting its AI agent platforms. Later, Miguel Milano, president and chief revenue officer, said he was happy to make a loss on a capped-price deal for AI agents in the short term, as the company had “ 20 years to monetize that customer.”"

"Gartner later warned Salesforce users that a capped enterprise agreement for its AI and data platforms may not be available when they come to renew, potentially meaning customers could struggle to predict costs and understand value. Salesforce responded: “The claim that we are moving away from capped agreements is inaccurate. Renewals remain flexible, and because AI compute costs may actually shift over time, we focus on tailoring terms so ea"

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