AI Is Reshaping How Businesses Automate Operations: What Effect Will This Have on the SaaS Landscape?

It is no secret that businesses are increasingly leveraging AI, but the speed of adoption has caught many off guard. A recent Stanford report noted a jump in AI use from 55% in 2023 to 78% in 2025. That's a significant surge in just two years.

The trend isn't slowing down, with 90% of global companies using or exploring the use of AI in some function. Consequently, the global AI market is predicted to reach $1.85 trillion (USD) by 2030.

AI use is now ubiquitous, but those integrating it into operations are already seeing results

While many businesses and employees might interact with Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI tools in some way, only some have integrated it deeply into operations and implemented AI-enabled automation. Those who have done so are already seeing measurable benefits. Consequently, 59% of those already working with AI intend to accelerate and increase investment in its use.

A 2024 study by the Boston Consulting Group found that operations accounted for 23% of value created by AI, with support functions like IT and customer service generating a further 38% of value. Overall, companies seen as AI leaders experienced 1.5 times higher revenue growth.

The SaaS market is undergoing an AI boom

Not surprisingly, the SaaS (Software as a Service) sector has been a primary driver of AI adoption. Last year, the emerging AI SaaS market was valued at $71.54 billion (USD) and is predicted to reach $775.44 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of around 38%.

Given that the overall SaaS market is projected to be worth $1.13 trillion by 2032 (with a CAGR of around 20%), it is clear that AI is transforming the sector, specifically in the business automation segment (B2B)

Capabilities such as predictive analytics, the automation of previously manual processes, and the personalisation of user interfaces and experiences are among the main reasons AI is so appealing to SaaS platforms. The efficiency gains are also behind the industry shift from per-seat pricing to usage- or outcome-based models.

There has also been a recent shift toward 'agentic AI' systems. A McKinsey report released in early November 2025 found that 62% of the organisations asked reported they were experimenting with AI agents, with 64% saying AI was enabling their innovation.

The AI SaaS revolution is just beginning, and trends can be hard to predict

It can be challenging to identify future trends in the sector without in-depth insider knowledge. We have asked for Alex Orlov's take on these industry trends and share his experience navigating them. For the past 14 years, he has led product and cross-functional teams in the technology sector, focusing on SaaS B2B enterprise platforms, product innovation, and AI-powered automation.

Well before the 'ChatGPT moment' in 2022, he has not only observed the trends that have been shaping the industry - he has also pioneered many of them. Alex has built market-leading enterprise no-code workflow automation platforms, led product innovation in the WorkTech sector, created enterprise app developer ecosystems, and currently works with multiple agentic AI products to help them shape their product-market fit.

"It's interesting to realise that many of the trends and practical applications of LLMs and agentic AI that feel new today - from the rise of platform products to the simplification of software development - actually began years ago and are now being accelerated tenfold by the progress in generative AI and its ubiquitous adoption", Alex says.

No-code tools are driving efficiency and allowing startups of one

Driven by a "do more with less" ethos, Alex sees today's AI wave as the next chapter in a longer story: the democratisation of how software is built. "Long before LLMs, we already saw this shift starting with enterprise no-code platforms," he says. Those platforms moved automation away from professional developers and into the hands of citizen developers and tech-savvy power users in functions like sales and operations. Now AI-driven no-code and vibe coding platforms - which let people build full applications simply by chatting in natural language - are accelerating that shift toward a world where almost anyone can be a developer, removing many of the constraints that previously required specialised engineering teams.

It is a development Alex knows first-hand. Long before LLMs broke into the mainstream, during his time at Creatio, he focused on building and scaling a no-code workflow automation platform. As the Director of Product Management and later SVP of Product, he built CRM and workflow automation products with almost unlimited in-platform customisation, evolving from serving professional software developers to business analysts, and further - to empowering a broad base of citizen developers and power users.

AI-powered no-code and vibe code have also made the 'startup of one' model more realistic. Individuals or small teams can build, launch, and scale complex software, reach the market, and find product-market fit without hiring new talent, because many of the constraints that once required assembling full engineering teams are now handled through prompts and configuration.

"Development has been democratised, allowing people to go from prototype to production using prompts, while agentic AI handles functions from GTM (Go-To-Market) to operations," Alex says.

"This is a significant and recent development. For example, while at Jooble, I led a corporate venture studio where a small team of product leaders piloted 15 software product ideas. This was in 2022, when LLMs were still emerging. Most of them were built on no-code platforms with little to no engineering, and we added a few engineers only once we had prototypes. If run today, all of those products could actually stay engineering-free much longer."

SaaS is shifting toward platforms, and agentic AI is expanding capabilities

Alex adds, "AI and no-code are accelerating a shift that actually started years ago with the rise of platform models in SaaS." At Creatio, he led the product's move from a suite of CRM products to a true open platform, where third-party developers could build and distribute their own applications. That allowed the company to expand beyond their core use cases to support a much wider range of vertical applications.

He notes that this platform trajectory is no longer just a strategic choice but is becoming a requirement. With generative AI enabling vibe coding and AI-powered no-code development, companies can build highly specialised applications from scratch without engineering teams. "If a SaaS product stays narrow and offers only limited customisation, it will struggle to compete," Alex says. "Platforms capable of supporting diverse, rapidly created use cases, as well as embedding AI-powered customisation tools will be the ones that thrive."

Having recently worked with multiple startups and enterprises on agentic AI products, Alex sees the clear advantages it can bring and argues this doesn't automatically mean staff lay-offs.

"A lot of my recent work has involved building and implementing AI agent tools for business workflows automation and software engineering acceleration. AI agents can take over tasks once limited to humans, but for skilled professionals, this doesn't really reduce workload. It just allows them to do more and shift from execution to building, overseeing, and analysing the work done by the agents."

AI is everywhere, and its uses are still being discovered - but the outlook is positive

AI is here, and SaaS platforms are helping drive the most transformative changes. Industry experts who have been at the forefront as changes and trends have developed are optimistic about the future.

As with previous culture-shifting innovations like the internet and smartphones, it can be hard to predict trends and use cases. But AI's impact on the SaaS sector has, so far, been largely positive, and that looks set to continue.

About the author: Chris writes about technology, AI innovation, and digital leadership. He explores how emerging technologies reshape business strategy, decision-making, and organisational culture. With a strong interest in responsible AI and data-driven transformation, Chris highlights how leaders can bridge the gap between vision and execution.