Yet Again: The Death of Traditional SaaS

Not long ago, I wrote about how the old SaaS subscription model continues to fade. No one wants to pay $5/month just to access “Tool ABC” anymore.

With the rise of AI, the cost of building software is rapidly approaching zero. That means soon anyone will be able to generate custom software tailored to their exact needs.

Just today, I came across a post by Henry Shi echoing this exact sentiment.

Some of the smartest founders I know have stopped building traditional SaaS altogether.

Instead of charging $5/seat/month for software, they’re offering AI-powered services that solve real business problems. These services are generating millions in ARR, run by lean teams with 50–70% margins, making old-school SaaS look weak in comparison.

Their philosophy is simple:

Stop making your customers learn your tool — start solving their actual problems.

When you charge for outcomes instead of access, clients are happy to pay significantly more because you’re driving tangible business impact.

So… how do you apply this?

The key is to find a niche where expensive people (like executives) are doing repetitive, time-consuming work — things like pulling data from multiple sources, reviewing legal or financial docs, or manually building models.

In other words: the gold lies in solving high-value, highly-specific problems using AI and human expertise.

While most startups chase saturated markets with $5/month tools, the real money is in solving specialized workflows that almost no one is touching.

Incidentally, this is exactly why we shifted our focus six months ago — away from generic automation tools and toward Market Intelligence.

The numbers speak for themselves:

The Cost of Manual Research vs. AI Automation

Before AI: A VP of Strategy (or their team) would spend 15–20 hours/week tracking competitors, analyzing trends, and gathering insights.

After AI: Signum.AI automates those workflows, reducing research time by 70%.

Annual impact:

• 600–800 hours saved per year
• Estimated cost savings: $60,000–$96,000 per strategy team
• Faster decisions thanks to real-time competitive insights

Artem Gladkikh
Founder & CEO, Signum.AI
Building The Ecosystem That Transforms Marketers Into AI-Driven Experts.

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