Ep 45: AI vs SaaS? | Anthropic’s Agents | Microsoft Co-opetition | $1T Software Selloff

In Episode 45, Kelly hosts for the first time and friend of the pod Scott Brinker returns to pressure test the SaaS apocalypse thesis.

We cover:

• Anthropic’s new agent capabilities, including legal automation

• The $1T software selloff and Nvidia’s pushback on the collapse narrative

• Microsoft positioning against OpenAI and the rise of AI co opetition

• Anthropic vs OpenAI’s Super Bowl ad battle and Sam Altman’s response

• OpenAI hiring forward deployed engineers and what it signals about product companies moving into services

• KPMG and McKinsey data showing most enterprises are still experimenting with agents

Are agents replacing applications? Or are software companies embedding AI faster than the market expects?

The data suggests we are not seeing the death of SaaS, but a reshuffling of power across models, infrastructure, applications, and services.

If you care about AI, SaaS, hyperscalers, or ecosystem strategy, this episode breaks down what’s signal vs noise.