Enterprise software was built on an economic constraint: software was expensive to build and cheap to copy. The constraint is gone and the economics have inverted.
Great history lesson and insight Chris. Any comments on what happens to specific industries like for-profit education? All our schools buy lots of software for curriculum, testing, tutoring etc.
This is an industry I know quite well since I’m actively part of it. I’d expect to see a very similar dynamic play out: a significant reduction - or at least a slowdown - in purchased point solutions (like specialized add-on tools for tutoring, niche assessments, or supplementary curriculum widgets) alongside an expansion of bespoke, custom-built tools tailored to specific programs.
In fact, as a matter of practice, I’m already doing some of that custom building for my own classes at Northeastern. Northeastern was one of the first universities to go all-in with Anthropic so I feel fortunate to have a bit of a leg up there - https://news.northeastern.edu/2025/04/02/anthropic-ai-partnership/
The core systems of record (like the LMS or student information systems) remain the most protected for now due to compliance, data gravity, and institutional inertia, but the peripheral SaaS ecosystem around them is definitely ripe for replacement by tailored in-house solutions. It will take time to, but it's definitely starting to happen.
Great history lesson and insight Chris. Any comments on what happens to specific industries like for-profit education? All our schools buy lots of software for curriculum, testing, tutoring etc.
Thanks Todd - great to hear from you.
This is an industry I know quite well since I’m actively part of it. I’d expect to see a very similar dynamic play out: a significant reduction - or at least a slowdown - in purchased point solutions (like specialized add-on tools for tutoring, niche assessments, or supplementary curriculum widgets) alongside an expansion of bespoke, custom-built tools tailored to specific programs.
In fact, as a matter of practice, I’m already doing some of that custom building for my own classes at Northeastern. Northeastern was one of the first universities to go all-in with Anthropic so I feel fortunate to have a bit of a leg up there - https://news.northeastern.edu/2025/04/02/anthropic-ai-partnership/
The core systems of record (like the LMS or student information systems) remain the most protected for now due to compliance, data gravity, and institutional inertia, but the peripheral SaaS ecosystem around them is definitely ripe for replacement by tailored in-house solutions. It will take time to, but it's definitely starting to happen.