Two comments: once again we see that tech oscillates between bundling and unbundling. Sometimes it seems to me this unbundling will be accomplished with a machete, not a scissors...
Two, as a consultant I look for problems that a potential client is actively trying to solve. "It's not a priority" (typically for the excellent reasons you cite) is the biggest blocker. I wonder if that opportunity space just got wider, and how it will work in practice. The easy button may have just gotten bigger, in other words.
The contract churn problem is especially acute for AI tools right now. Most mid-market companies signed 1-2 year AI commitments in 2024-2025 based on demo performance, not actual deployment results. Now they're hitting renewal season with 6-12 months of real usage data that rarely matches the original purchase case. The buyers who come out ahead are the ones who built usage benchmarks and ROI checkpoints into the original contract language — not those renegotiating from scratch at renewal.
We share a common belief in the growth and importance of agentic purchasing.
I think many underestimate the speed and scale of its impact. Gartner estimate that by 2028 90% of B2B buying will be agentic, accounting for a whopping $15 Trillion in spend. The long tail comprises low value purchases but represents massive spending. Websites are still a first port of call but now many of the visitors are not people.
AEO and agents rank dismiss vague marketing claims; reinforcing the need to build GTM around specific, measurable results for customers.
I think this is directionally very right, but I’d frame the coming churn less as a software budget cycle and more as a permission reset.
For years, SaaS vendors earned the right to sit in the stack because teams logged in, workflows lived there, and switching was annoying. AI changes the test. If the work can be triggered elsewhere, summarized elsewhere, or partially rebuilt internally, the vendor has to prove it owns something deeper than usage.
That is why the scary part is not just customers cutting tools. It is customers re-deciding which products deserve to remain systems, and which ones become features, connectors, or context for an agent.
Two comments: once again we see that tech oscillates between bundling and unbundling. Sometimes it seems to me this unbundling will be accomplished with a machete, not a scissors...
Two, as a consultant I look for problems that a potential client is actively trying to solve. "It's not a priority" (typically for the excellent reasons you cite) is the biggest blocker. I wonder if that opportunity space just got wider, and how it will work in practice. The easy button may have just gotten bigger, in other words.
The contract churn problem is especially acute for AI tools right now. Most mid-market companies signed 1-2 year AI commitments in 2024-2025 based on demo performance, not actual deployment results. Now they're hitting renewal season with 6-12 months of real usage data that rarely matches the original purchase case. The buyers who come out ahead are the ones who built usage benchmarks and ROI checkpoints into the original contract language — not those renegotiating from scratch at renewal.
We share a common belief in the growth and importance of agentic purchasing.
I think many underestimate the speed and scale of its impact. Gartner estimate that by 2028 90% of B2B buying will be agentic, accounting for a whopping $15 Trillion in spend. The long tail comprises low value purchases but represents massive spending. Websites are still a first port of call but now many of the visitors are not people.
AEO and agents rank dismiss vague marketing claims; reinforcing the need to build GTM around specific, measurable results for customers.
I shared my thoughts, on this shift (it includes scripts a website developer can use to build AI ready websites) and the role of customer results in "Anybody there? Making your website credible in an AI world. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xcAeOmSYXEtGYMu_c32PV0l2NpbLqFFU/view?usp=share_link)
A free assessment will tell you how ready your website is for results-focused and AI forward buyers. www.clgforum.com
I think this is directionally very right, but I’d frame the coming churn less as a software budget cycle and more as a permission reset.
For years, SaaS vendors earned the right to sit in the stack because teams logged in, workflows lived there, and switching was annoying. AI changes the test. If the work can be triggered elsewhere, summarized elsewhere, or partially rebuilt internally, the vendor has to prove it owns something deeper than usage.
That is why the scary part is not just customers cutting tools. It is customers re-deciding which products deserve to remain systems, and which ones become features, connectors, or context for an agent.