Holden Spaht, Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo, joins Sonali Basak to discuss why enterprise software may emerge stronger, not weaker, in the age of AI. Rather than a “SaaS apocalypse,” Spaht argues that AI’s impacts have been counterintuitive, producing meaningful software investments and huge opportunities for companies with deep domain knowledge.
As the conversation around AI spending shifts from adoption to ROI, Spaht believes that proprietary data and years of customer context will become increasingly important competitive advantages. Enterprise software companies are evolving into intelligence platforms that support, rather than replace, the last mile of decision-making; Spaht believes the most successful companies will prioritize outcomes over technical sophistication for its own sake.
His central message: the biggest beneficiaries of AI may not be the newest entrants, but the companies with the deepest customer relationships, strongest domain expertise, and most valuable data.
