#Guest post
Global SaaS platforms are losing their shine, AI agents are taking on tasks that once justified entire software categories – and now, of all times, the focus is on German medium-sized businesses. A guest article by Nicolas Barthalon (Ventech).
The euphoria surrounding Software-as-a-Service has lasted a long time. For years, SaaS valuations grew as if software companies had a lease on the right to expand forever. Then came AI – and with it what is already being discussed in Silicon Valley as “SaaSpocalypse”: AI agents who take over entire areas of responsibility that previously required dozens of specialized tools. Why pay for three different CRM standalone solutions when an agent maintains, prioritizes and evaluates the data himself?
That sounds like a threat scenario. For many established providers it is. But for a particular category of B2B software – namely, that which is deeply embedded in operational processes and encodes industry-specific know-how – this disruption presents an opportunity. Not despite the AI wave, but because of it.
Late-mover advantage – and its limitations
Companies without complex legacy IT can actually set up AI solutions faster and more modernly because they don’t have to migrate architectures that have been encrusted for decades. This late-mover advantage is real – but it primarily affects small and medium-sized companies that have put off larger IT projects for a long time. Large industrial companies, on the other hand, often have both: complex IT structures and, at the same time, significant digitalization gaps. And here lies the crucial catch. Because little digitization also means little data. Without reliable, structured data, AI remains ineffective. AI agents can only function in clearly defined, digitally mapped processes – where this basis is missing, there is no acceleration effect, but rather additional effort to create a digital basis. In addition, digital skills are often lacking.
Still, there is reason for cautious optimism: AI models are currently evolving at a pace of months, not years. Anyone who introduces the latest generation today can almost catch up technologically, even if years of digitalization were missed beforehand. This “leapfrog effect” should not be overestimated, but it is real. However, the condition remains the same: the basic digital infrastructure must be created. Cleaning up databases, mapping processes digitally, creating integrations – this is not an option, but a requirement.
Physical AI: Automation for medium-sized businesses
AI agents increase internal efficiency – but the next wave of automation continues: it leaves the screen and enters the factory floor. Until now, robotics has primarily been a technology for large corporations with high volumes and standardized processes. The effort involved in programming a robot for a specific task was simply not worth it for medium-sized productions with high variance and small series. That is currently changing fundamentally. Thanks to AI training with synthetic data, robots no longer need to be explicitly programmed for each individual activity. You give them a mission – and they independently develop a strategy to carry it out. They adapt to new situations in real time, without engineers having to dictate every step. Automation, which was previously considered too complex or too small-scale, is now becoming economical for the first time. This opens up an exciting equation for German medium-sized companies: Anyone who uses physical AI can simultaneously increase internal efficiency, improve product margins and remain competitive – even in the face of an acute shortage of skilled workers. Tasks for which qualified workers are lacking can be handed over gradually. This is not a distant future scenario, but a development that is already evident in concrete investments and products.
Three examples that show how it works
On the software side, some European startups are already showing exactly where the levers come into play. Prewave, for example, stands for access and use of data as a competitive advantage: Anyone who has an overview of their supply chain in real time, i.e. identifying risks early on, understanding dependencies, and reacting proactively to disruptions, builds up a level of resilience that competitors simply do not have without this data base. Another good example is DrimCo. The company solves one of the toughest pain points in German mechanical engineering: complex B2B tenders that tie up sales teams for days. AI that structures and accelerates this process is not a convenience feature – it fundamentally changes competitiveness. amber from Aachen, on the other hand, addresses a challenge that, in my opinion, is not talked about enough. In an economy that thrives on the knowledge of its employees, there is a threat of an invisible bloodletting: decades of experience disappear when the generation of experts retires. What remains are scattered traces in files, emails and notes. amber transforms this digital footprint into living corporate memory and with amberSearch, fragmented islands of information are created into a complete, dynamic picture that is findable, understandable and directly usable, for both humans and AI agents.
Don’t be afraid of the break
The SaaSpocalypse is not an end. It is a turning point and a new beginning. Software that was content with generic tasks will disappear. Software that provides true operational depth, encodes industry-specific knowledge and creates the digital basis for AI agents is becoming more important than ever. German medium-sized companies have the structures and the industry knowledge to act now. What is missing is determination: the willingness to clean data bases, create integrations and rely on technologies that not only manage complexity, but solve it. As an investor, I see Europe and Germany in particular in a stronger position than the current fear suggests. The AI era is not coming, it is already here. The only question is who builds the infrastructure on which it runs.
About the author
Nicolas Barthalon is a senior investor at Ventech, a European venture capital fund focused on B2B software and deep tech. The portfolio includes more than 100 companies in Europe and North America.
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