By Uma Ganesh
Software as a service (SaaS) has been prevalent for more than a decade now. It has enabled customers to do away with the installation and maintenance of software on their devices or computers on premises by accessing the applications over the internet. Examples of SaaS include Zoom, Salesforce and Google Workspace that are accessed from the cloud instead of fixed license fee-based software.
Service as software (SaS) automates the human-driven services using AI and ML. The software itself becomes the service instead of software supporting the service thus replacing human roles and delivering savings in costs and higher efficiencies. SaS is disrupting every aspect of business and human functioning by replacing human jobs with AI-driven service offerings leading to higher speed, efficiency and lower costs.
In the initial phase, computers addressed the need for massive tabulation and storage of data replacing the need for humans to use the numerical capabilities and also eliminated the manual processes for storage of physical files. With software advancements, users could be empowered to use the information and insights provided by the software to act upon and work out manually the steps as required.
In the current phase, SaS is creating AI agents – capable of handling last mile activities thus disrupting providers of SaaS, BPM services and IT services and creating impactful outcomes. Agentforce of Salesforce is an example of SaaS-based CRM platform enabling customers to build AI agents that would act upon the insights and intelligence garnered from the software. In the coming days, there would be changes in the commercial models for SaaS applications. SaaS models would have to move away from subscription-based pricing approaches to outcome-based pricing models.
We have been experiencing several examples of traditionally delivered human services being replaced through software. ChatGPT is a replacement for human support agents with AI-driven chatbots. Jasper is a replacement for human copywriters and Wealthfront is an example of robo advisor replacing human financial consultants. HireVue carries out several of the tasks of a recruiter with speed and higher levels of efficiency – namely screening of resumes, conducting initial interviews and assessment of candidates. Even in the context of software development, No Code & Low Code Automation platforms such as Bubble or Zapier are enabling in automating workflows and building tools that would eliminate the need for dependence on code developers.
These are still early days for the businesses to handle the transition from human expertise to AI driven expertise. We are entering the phase of dual intelligence where humans would be required to build and train the models to adapt to the changing needs. Human intelligence would play a significant role to ensure the SaS service models are ethical, protected against biases and prevent them from turning rogue. Thus it’s the power of dual intelligence which would provide the firepower to transform organisations.
The writer is chairperson, Global Talent Track.
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