AI briefing: What is software worth if customers write it themselves?
The era of pure software applications is ending as AI models radically transform the image editing and copywriting market.
Quick Look
- The software industry is experiencing a transformation due to AI: the value of simple applications is decreasing, while ecosystems and additional services are becoming more important.
- Adobe is increasingly being criticized by users due to its subscription model.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The software industry is facing a structural change due to the rise of AI that challenges traditional SaaS models.
then a look at the software industry will help. We are at a tipping point. But completely different than what the prophets of doom predicted at the beginning of the year with the “SaaSocalypse”. At the time it was said that large corporations such as SAP and Salesforce would soon be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). Today we see: SAP has recovered. There are now AI clones of Photoshop, Powerpoint and Xbox games.
Why it matters: The entire business of the software industry is changing. Any reasonably advanced user of Claude or ChatGPT can quickly create an application for image editing or text creation. The value of a pure application drops massively. It now lies in permanent maintenance, the connection of additional functions and the ecosystem of expanded services.
But this promise is under more pressure than ever before. Brandon Thomas, a programmer from Atlanta in the US, was a long-time but increasingly frustrated customer of the software company Adobe. With Photoshop and Premiere, the company is considered a central partner in the creative industry. However, there has been criticism of Adobe's subscription model for many years.
Open Questions
- How does Adobe specifically react to the growing AI competition?
