🎯 Today's SaaS PulseUpdated 1h ago
Akbank completes Phase 1 migration to Mambu’s SaaS core‑banking platform
Germany’s Akbank AG finished the first phase of moving its retail and private‑banking customers onto Mambu’s cloud‑native core‑banking SaaS, hosted on Microsoft Azure. The migration was executed with Innovance, which added a custom Core+ layer to manage business logic and integrations.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Resolve AI secures $40M Series A extension
🚀 Top SaaS Headlines
Salesforce Maps New AI Leadership: Ten Execs, Including CTO, Guide Generative AI Strategy
An internal Salesforce org chart reveals a ten‑person executive team, headed by CTO Parker Harris, tasked with steering the firm’s AI transformation. The reshuffle follows the departure of five senior leaders and coincides with the start of the new fiscal year on Feb. 1, underscoring the urgency of integrating generative AI across Salesforce’s portfolio.
Pulse
Zuora Collections Launches in Europe with Germany Data Center for In-Region Data and AI-Driven Workflows
Zuora has launched Collections in Europe with a new Germany data center, bringing AI-driven workflows and in-region data handling to finance teams managing cash collection and forecasting. The post Zuora Collections Launches in Europe with Germany Data Center for In-Region Data and AI-Driven Workflows appeared first on ERP Today.
ERP Today
Microsoft to Cut Windows 365 Price for SMBs
Microsoft will cut the price of Windows 365 subscriptions for small and mid-sized businesses by 20% next month, though analysts expect little impact on uptake of the Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform. The price change for Windows 365 Business takes effect May 1, 2026 for new subscriptions; existing subscribers will receive updated pricing at renewal, Microsoft explained on its Partner Center page. The company first introduced the lower rate as a promotional offer last October and is now making that reduction permanent. At the same time, Microsoft will also introduce a new “on-demand start experience” that will result in longer time to start up Cloud PC virtual desktops when they’ve been disconnected for more than an hour. “The impact on user experience will likely be minimal, spare a slightly longer startup time on the first connection after hibernation,” said Gabe Knuth, principal analyst at Omdia. The Windows 365 price change comes as PC prices are set to rise this year due to global memory chip shortages. Even so, Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, doesn’t expect the Windows 365 price cut to result in a significant boost in adoption among small to mid-sized businesses. “I do expect that the price decrease is an incentive move to get companies to move to Windows 365, but I’m not convinced it will make that much difference,” Gold said. “TCO [total cost of ownership] is a major component of enterprise concerns about deploying PCs — in that sense this helps. But whether or not it’s enough to move adoption rates remains to be seen.” Windows 365 currently represents a “small minority of enterprise PC installations,” he said. Knuth said that while businesses will likely appreciate the lower pricing, “the use case will still dictate Windows 365 adoption more than cost.” The overall market for DaaS tools is set to increase from $4.3 billion in 2025 to $6 billion by 2029, according to Gartner. The analyst firm also forecast in its 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop-as-a-Service report that virtual desktops will become cost-effective for 95% of workers by 2027, compared to 40% in 2019. In that same time frame, virtual desktops will become the primary workspace for 20% of workers by 2027, Gartner expects, up from 10% in 2019. Related reading: Cheap enterprise PCs? Not anytime soon — analysts Is it time to reconsider DaaS? The Windows PC is dying, thanks to cloud-based services and AI
Computerworld – IT Leadership
Talon.One Releases Integration With Adobe Experience Platform to Power Real-Time Loyalty and Promotions for Enterprise Brands
Native integration connects Talon.One’s advanced incentives engine directly with Adobe Real-Time CDP and Adobe Journey Optimizer Partnership brings loyalty to life for enterprise brands, enabling brands to close the loop between customer engagement and transaction
City A.M. — Economics
AI Isn’t Killing SaaS — It’s Exposing Which Platforms Matter
The emergence of powerful AI models has fueled a growing narrative that traditional software companies are on the verge of collapse in a disastrous “SaaSpocalypse.” But treating all SaaS businesses as commoditized code bases ignores the reality that many platforms run the workflows, transactions and networks that entire industries depend on. Investors should start evaluating application software companies through a different lens — or risk mispricing and walking away from some of the most durable assets in enterprise technology. The conclusion that AI will broadly eliminate SaaS misunderstands how most application software actually works, particularly vertical software focused on specific industries and business models. The value of many vertical platforms does not lie in the code itself, but in the operational systems they facilitate within the complex ecosystems of various industries. These workflows include payments flowing between suppliers and distributors, compliance processes embedded in regulated industries and logistics networks connecting millions of businesses in a marketplace. These platforms often sit at the center of the day-to-day operations of entire companies, organizing the set of daily tasks for their employees and enabling management oversight over global footprints. Part of the confusion within the market narrative about the destruction of software stems from timing. The technology industry is currently experiencing two overlapping shifts. First, many industries are normalizing after stimulus-driven boom years, when software companies enjoyed extraordinary growth and traded at valuations that extrapolated COVID-era growth rates as if they would occur indefinitely. But as interest rates rose and enterprise technology budgets tightened, growth slowed and valuations compressed across the sector. The second shift was separate and wrongly conflated with the valuation drop. The rapid emergence of generative AI tools that can accelerate software development and automate certain knowledge tasks led some investors to conclude AI’s emergence caused the SaaS growth slowdown. The most vocal AGI maximalists indeed think that software will become infinitely replicable and each company will develop its own tools to utilize internally. But the fact that the biggest AI cheerleaders think it (or wish it) doesn’t make it so. Many industries’ primary vertical software platforms do not simply provide standalone features. Instead, they act as the platforms that coordinate the activities of thousands of participants across a complex network, both external buyers and sellers and internal employees within organizations. Put simply, vertical software platforms organize how businesses operate. Without them, entire essential industries like retail, supply chain and energy would devolve into chaos. The requirement of industry verticals to synchronize the actions of various constituents makes the AGI-eats-SaaS vision for the future — millions of unique, non-interoperable company-developed software platforms — hard to grasp. The challenge of reliably integrating and synchronizing divergent software systems has been the core inhibitor to growing vertical software applications over the past 20 years. Lowering the cost of coding does not make this process any easier or replace existing providers. While AI can produce working code for any type of software, it certainly will be challenged to replicate decades of proprietary real-world integration that vertical platforms have built. That said, AI certainly represents a compelling opportunity to expand the value of existing vertical software applications. For example, when AI agents eventually begin transacting on behalf of businesses, they will still need to operate through an existing digital substrate—and in most industries, that substrate will be the vertical platform already in place. Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly reshape parts of the software landscape. AI may weaken some traditional pricing models. Many SaaS companies historically priced their products based on the number of users or seats within a customer organization, and as automation reduces headcount, those seat-based models may come under pressure. That doesn’t necessarily imply shrinking software revenue or margins. Particularly as AI gains autonomy, pricing structures will likely move toward usage, transactions or outcomes. Revenue models will be based on the value those systems deliver, as many already do. Investors previously viewed software as a high-growth, high-multiple business model that could generate venture-style returns. But as the industry matures, the next phase will reward investors with a different mindset—one focused on operational improvement, disciplined capital allocation and long-term platform building. Investors and companies experienced in consolidating fragmented industries should be well-positioned to pursue this kind of strategy. By integrating complementary software assets into broader vertical platforms, growing both scale and profits is possible. That makes AI more of an enabling technology than an engine of disruption for the right kind of vertical SaaS platform. The opportunity for investors lies in recognizing the difference between fragile software tools and durable industry infrastructure. Rather than signaling the end of the sector, the current moment may represent the beginning of a new phase in which disciplined companies and investors can acquire and consolidate durable SaaS businesses while the market is distracted by the idea of a SaaSpocalypse. This article is published as part of the Foundry Expert Contributor Network. Want to join?
CIO.com
💰 SaaS Fundraising
Auctor Raises $20M Series A Led by Sequoia Capital
Auctor, an AI-native platform for enterprise software implementation, announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from M12, HubSpot Ventures, Workday Ventures, OneStream, Y Combinator, Tercera, and Dig Ventures. The round will support the company’s growth in the enterprise software implementation market.
Parasail Raises $32M Series A for Its Pay-per-Token Inference Cloud
Parasail Inc., an AI infrastructure startup, announced a $32 million Series A round led by Touring Capital and Kindred Ventures, with participation from Samsung Electronics’ startup investment arm. The funding will be used to enhance its AI Supercloud platform, expand its partner ecosystem, and boost go‑to‑market initiatives.
Hilbert AI Co. Raises $28M in Funding Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz
Hilbert AI Co., a B2C analytics software provider, announced closing a $28 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The capital will support hiring and product development for its AI‑driven analytics platform that simplifies data projects for consumer brands. The round marks a significant boost for the company’s growth plans.
💬 Top SaaS Social Posts
If You Ask Our Customers What Databricks' Biggest Value Is Chances Are that You Hear 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠. In the Last Three Years, We Provided Governance for Agents, MCP Servers, Tools/Skills… | Ali Ghodsi | 43 Comments
If you ask our customers what Databricks' biggest value is chances are that you hear 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠. In the last three years, we provided governance for Agents, MCP Servers, Tools/Skills and Unstructured data as part of our AI Gateway. Today we're launching 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐈 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲 which unifies our governance with Unity Catalog and makes governance of Data and Agents really seamless. Read about how this exactly works under the hood: https://lnkd.in/gvAc2deK
Hightouch Reaches $100M ARR Fueled by Marketing Tools Powered by AI
**By Marina Temkin – TechCrunch** *San Francisco, CA | October 13‑15, 2026* Historically, marketers relied on designers and other creative professionals to develop images and videos for personalized online ad campaigns. In late 2024, seven‑year‑old startup **[Hightouch](https://hightouch.com/)** launched an AI‑powered service that allows marketing professionals to create custom content for brands such as Domino’s, Chime, PetSmart, and Spotify without involving brand design teams or ad agencies. The offering has been highly successful. Since introducing its AI product 20 months ago, Hightouch has added **$70 million in annualized recurring revenue (ARR)**, it tells TechCrunch, bringing the startup to a total of **$100 million in ARR**. > “Before GenAI, it was impossible for someone without many, many years of design skills to create consumer‑level assets,” said Kashish Gupta, Hightouch’s co‑CEO. The company is also led by co‑CEO **Tejas Manohar**, a former engineering manager at Segment, a customer‑data platform acquired by Twilio for **$3.2 billion** in 2020. However, Hightouch’s approach goes beyond what standard AI models can do on their own. Hightouch says that many brands initially attempted to generate ad campaigns using **general foundational models**—broad AI systems that power tools like chatbots but lack knowledge of specific brands—only to find the resulting images and videos failed to meet “on‑brand” standards. > “Foundation models didn’t know about specific consumer brands, whether it was colors or fonts, tone, or assets,” Gupta says. “The LLMs would hallucinate products that didn’t exist, and you can’t do advertising and emails on products that didn’t exist.” To ensure brand consistency, Hightouch connects directly to its customers’ existing creative tools, such as the popular design platform **Figma**, photo libraries, and content‑management systems (CMS). By pulling from these sources, the platform “learns” a company’s specific brand identity. Hightouch’s AI agents then use these photos, designs, and customer insights to help marketers build personalized ad campaigns autonomously, without having to wait on designers or developers. The goal of Hightouch’s AI is to create images and videos that look like they were made by professional designers, avoiding the “fake” or generic look often associated with AI. > “For example, Domino’s will never generate a pizza,” Gupta says. “They’ll always use existing images of pizza, and they’ll place it into an ad where the background might be generated, and other things might be generated around it.” The company, which now employs approximately **380 people**, was valued at **$1.2 billion** in February 2025 when it raised an **$80 million Series C** funding round led by Sapphire Ventures. *Pictured above, left to right: Tejas Manohar, Josh Curl, and Kashish Gupta* --- **About the author** Marina Temkin is a venture‑capital and startups reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she wrote about VC for PitchBook and Venture Capital Journal. Earlier in her career, Marina was a financial analyst and earned a CFA charterholder designation. You can contact or verify outreach from Marina by emailing **marina.temkin@techcrunch.com** or via encrypted message at **+1 347‑683‑3909** on Signal. [View Bio](https://techcrunch.com/author/marina-temkin/)
Thread by @Lessin
The death of SaaS narrative -- my big 'viral' call on it was Sept, 2024 -- but what is soo cool about having all my content wired up into claude is tracing the lineage of the thinking back to 2017.
