In January, I was convinced like many others that we were heading toward a “SaaSpocalypse.”
Every week brought another headline about artificial intelligence outright replacing software, eliminating the need for specialized applications, and reducing barriers to entry. The prevailing view was, and for some people still is, that AI would become the product, and that years of accumulated expertise embedded in software platforms would become less important.
I wasn’t sure every prediction in that vein would come true, but signs indicated that businesses were searching for technology to solve business problems, and that AI models would become the primary source of competitive advantage.
Over the course of the year, I changed my mind.
It wasn’t because of a single event. Instead, it was a series of conversations with customers and prospects who I expected to be focused on AI as its utility and popularity grew. I kept hearing something different. Customers weren’t asking who had the newest model or the most AI features. They wanted to know who understood their business the best, and then how AI could improve specific issues they were facing.
I saw this repeatedly in payments and financial operations. Customers were willing to adopt AI, but they still wanted guidance from people who understood the sensitivity of payment data, complex payment workflows, fraud risks, compliance requirements, vendor dynamics and the realities of managing payment and financial operations across large teams, organizations and systems. The technology mattered, yes, but expertise was essential to get these customers to trust the solutions.
Customers understood that AI could be disruptive in a good way, but they were not eager to rush to implement it. They wanted to understand how it would impact their existing workflows and what they could reasonably automate with AI. They wanted to know what risks existed and how they could be mitigated with good governance and safeguards. And they wanted to know, above all, how the partners they trusted were using this technology to make finance faster, safer and easier.
That was the insight I hadn’t fully appreciated in January.
Artificial intelligence lowers the cost of creating technology, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for knowledge, experience or trust. Its great speed and promise, paired with its inability to think critically, makes those factors more valuable. As the technology becomes more accessible, expertise becomes a greater differentiator, not a lesser one. The winning combination is knowing how to use AI responsibly, safeguard customers’ data and payments and bring it all together with best-in-class technology.
As a result, I’ve changed how I think about AI heading into this winter. I no longer believe success comes from having the most cutting-edge technology alone. I believe it comes from combining great technology with deep domain expertise and trusted relationships. We are investing in AI because of its transformational promise, but we’re equally focused on the people, partnerships and industry knowledge that help customers turn new technology into business outcomes that matter.
In January, I thought AI would diminish the value of domain expertise because of the universe of possibilities it opened. Today, after seeing where AI is going and hearing from customers who are looking for us to guide the way for them, I believe the opposite. The winners in the AI era will be the companies that combine advanced technology with deep expertise, responsible innovation and the trust to deliver meaningful customer outcomes.
