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In a world where AI innovation follows each other at breakneck speed, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently made a remarkable statement. SaaS software as we know it today could ‘collapse’ in the upcoming era of AI agents. A bold prediction that stirred up a lot of dust. But what does this mean exactly for the future of software, and more importantly: for your organization?
The Paradigm Shift in SaaS
What Satya Nadella means is this: SaaS applications are essentially nothing more than databases with CRUD operations. CRUD stands for Create, Read, Update, Delete. These are the actions you can perform on a database. Retrieving, adding, editing, or deleting information. On top of that, we’ve built beautiful graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and added business logic around that information.
With the advent of AI agents, and specifically generative AI, Nadella predicts that interaction will take place via these AI agents and that’s where the business logic will move to. SaaS applications thereby become nothing more than databases with APIs.
At first glance, this might sound like an exaggerated prediction. But my personal experience with AI integration showed me that there’s a kernel of truth in it.
My own AI revelation: From Todo-app to smart assistant
Over the past few months, I built Bucketllist. A personal todo web application with a beautiful user interface. Then I built integrations with the Anthropic API to make the application more AI-driven.
Then I got inspired to create a custom action in a ChatGPT GPT. This was because I often remember tasks I want to add while driving. Since it’s unsafe to enter these while driving, I wanted voice input. By adding a custom action to a GPT, this is quickly and easily arranged. Build an API, secure it, and define a custom action. The first concept is born.
Then I started thinking further. By creating an API connection, I could suddenly through natural conversations with ChatGPT:
- Create and manage tasks
- Have my productivity patterns analyzed
- Get smarter planning suggestions
- Optimize my entire workflow
Then it suddenly hit me: The user interface of Bucketllist is suddenly much less relevant. I do everything from my own GPT with custom actions. I can retrieve data and have generative AI perform more complex analyses. And I no longer need to constantly be in my own web application. For some tasks absolutely, but these no longer require an extremely beautiful and user-friendly interface.
AI chatbots vs AI agents: a crucial distinction
What I built with Bucketllist and ChatGPT is essentially a smart assistant – an advanced chatbot that executes commands. Impressive? Certainly. But it’s not yet a true AI agent. True AI agents are fundamentally different. These are autonomous software systems that:
- Make independent decisions based on complex data
- Understand and remember context over longer periods
- Can correct and adjust themselves
- Act proactively without human input
- Apply complex reasoning over multiple steps
Why API-driven architecture is essential now
My experience above also made me realize that we’re moving towards an IT landscape where AI agents and chatbots communicate with each other and external systems via APIs. An API-driven landscape isn’t new, we’ve been saying it for years. But we hadn’t previously foreseen that this would be necessary for an AI agent era.
And that necessity is starting to emerge. I’m convinced we’re heading towards an AI agent world. An API-based architecture forms the foundation for this AI revolution. It’s like the nervous system that AI agents need to function effectively. Without good APIs, AI agents can’t do much:
- Seamlessly communicate with different systems
- Aggregate data from various sources
- Execute coordinated actions
- React to changes in real-time
Concrete steps towards an API-based future
- Start with an API Audit
o Which systems still lack modern APIs?
o Where are the legacy bottlenecks?
o Which systems are already AI-ready? - Develop an API strategy
o Choose modern standards (REST, GraphQL)
o Invest in robust documentation
o Implement secure authentication
o Ensure monitoring and analytics - Start with Experiments
o Start small, like my Bucketllist experiment
o Learn from each integration
o Scale successful pilots
Mind your step!
Important in all of this is to keep focusing on a security-by-design and privacy-by-design approach. Your APIs and integrations must be secure and locked down. You don’t want unauthorized use. The same goes for data. Think carefully about what data you send across the line and who has access.
Providers of generative AI APIs like OpenAI and Anthropic indicate that data via APIs isn’t used for training models. Eventually, they do end up in chat history on American servers.
So stay alert and sharp and establish policies and guidelines!
The future is closer than you think
My experience with Bucketllist was a glimpse of what’s to come. A future where AI agents are naturally interwoven with our digital work environment. This future requires preparation.
Is Nadella’s prediction about the ‘collapse’ of traditional SaaS exaggerated? Maybe. But the underlying trend is unmistakable: AI agents will play a central role in how we use and develop software. And we’re drifting away from using graphical user interfaces.
Start preparing today. Because one thing is certain: the future is API-driven, and AI agents will play a leading role in it.