u/jquemba ·
Reddit — r/ValueInvesting
· April 23, 2026 at 18:35
· ⬆ 16 pts
· 💬 63 comments
| View on Reddit ↗
AI Summary
Summary
The author argues that the market wrongly fears AI will destroy established SaaS companies, because building enterprise-grade software internally is costly, insecure, and lacks standards — making bought solutions preferable.
He believes incumbents like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Adobe are pivoting to "agentic" models and will grow faster, not disappear.
Quality assessment: Speculation with logical reasoning but no granular financial data; it's a contrarian opinion supported by anecdotal CEO logic.
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The market thinks that AI will kill all software companies because now they can create their own tools... This thinking demonstrates a lack of knowledge about how software creation works, especially for medium and large companies.
You can create or vibecode an entire app like Salesforce, ServiceNow, or Adobe. You can even hire a team to maintain it, but you will never have worldclass software. These companies have the knowledge and experience and with AI are creating the Agentic era.
If you're a CEO, what would you prefer? Invest in a team to create and maintain an application from 0 that will support your business? At the beginning it will be cheap, but in the future it will be expensive. You will be more responsible for security, and you will lose market standards. The second option is to pay for validated, robust, and secure software. You won’t have to manage developer teams, and you can focus on your real business. What do you decide?
The question is that big software companies are pivoting to agentic models. These companies will not disappear; they will grow quickly. Now they are not selling software, they are selling agents.
Can you see it?
And could Anthropic and OpenAI create all the software in the world? Maybe. But do they really want to? I don’t think so, they are focused on other things.
Salesforce is a leader in CRM software and is actively building AI agents (e.g., Einstein GPT). If the author is right that CEOs will buy validated agentic platforms, Salesforce’s recurring revenue and ecosystem should expand. Trade on the view that AI will strengthen Salesforce’s moat, not destroy it. AI commoditization could compress margins (as top comment warns); enterprise spending slowdown.
ServiceNow’s workflow automation is central to large-company IT operations; they are embedding AI agents. As companies avoid building custom internal tools, ServiceNow’s secure, modular platform becomes more valuable. Position for continued growth as the company monetizes AI-driven automation. Competition from low‑code AI tools; high valuation multiples.
Adobe’s creative and document cloud are deeply embedded; they are adding generative AI features (Firefly). The author’s logic about "world‑class software" applies strongest to creative tools where quality and ecosystem matter. Adobe should benefit from the same dynamic – firms buy, not build – while AI expands its TAM. Open‑source AI tools (e.g., Stable Diffusion) could erode pricing power; regulatory risk.
This Reddit post, published April 23, 2026,
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