Why SaaS Isn’t Dead, But Its Advantage Has Been Commodified

InnovationWhy SaaS Isn’t Dead, But Its Advantage Has Been CommodifiedByMax Votek,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 15, 2026, 10:00am EDTMax Votek, co-founder and managing partner at Customertimes. gettyFor years, SaaS was the great equalizer. It gave companies access to world-class capabilities without having to build them. CRM, ERP, commerce, analytics—everything became available on demand, neatly packaged and endlessly scalable.​That model hasn’t disappeared. In fact, global software spending continues to grow, projected to reach roughly $1.43 trillion in 2026. Platforms like Shopify still power millions of businesses globally, proving that SaaS remains foundational to modern operations.​But something quieter and more structural has changed. SaaS is no longer where competitive advantage lives.​Everyone Has The Same Tools, To No AdvantageStandardized SaaS tools are now widely accessible, deeply integrated and increasingly similar across competitors. What once differentiated companies has become baseline infrastructure. As a result, businesses no longer compete on software, but on how they operate beyond it.​This dynamic is reinforced by broader industry data. While 88% of organizations already use generative AI in at least one function, only a small fraction has translated that into measurable financial impact. Software no longer creates an advantage by being present. It creates an advantage by being shaped.​The New Moat: Context, Not Code​The strongest signal from the market is consistent: value is shifting from applications to context.​Gartner highlights that organizations achieving the best results with AI are not simply deploying tools—they are investing in data quality, governance and organizational readiness at significantly higher levels. Similarly, research shows that workflow redesign, not too...