AI assistants are becoming the new buyers of business software

A SaaStr post argues that AI assistants, often called agents, are becoming the new decision makers when companies pick business software. The idea echoes a 2021 book, Ask Your Developer, and it suggests that selling to people alone may no longer be enough.

The idea behind it

In 2021, Jeff Lawson wrote Ask Your Developer. His point was that engineers had become the real buyers of a large share of business software. At companies like Twilio, which sells technical building blocks for other software, you won the engineer. The budget then followed.

SaaStr says the same shift is happening again, five years later. This time, the one doing the choosing is an AI agent. An agent is a program that can research options and take steps on a person's behalf.

Who it affects

Anyone who sells software could feel this. If an agent helps shortlist or pick a tool, a product may need to look good to that agent before a human ever hears the pitch. Buyers may also find that some choices are made earlier, and with less direct effort, than they expect.

What is not known yet

The full article was not available, so the details of SaaStr's argument are unclear. The material does not say how many companies already let agents choose software, how agents pick one product over another, or what sellers should do about it. Those answers are still open.