A new analysis suggests that as much as 70% of the software industry's growth slowdown may be attributed to enterprise budgets shifting toward AI platforms like Anthropic and OpenAI. The hypothesis challenges conventional explanations for widespread declining growth rates across major public software companies.
Major SaaS companies have experienced dramatic growth declines since their 2021 peak, with Salesforce dropping from 25% to 8% growth, Snowflake falling from 106% to 24%, and HubSpot declining from 47% to 17%. According to the analysis, these companies have printed lower growth rates every single year since 2021 without exception.
The pattern suggests a fundamental shift in enterprise software spending rather than traditional market cyclicality. As companies allocate larger portions of their technology budgets to AI infrastructure and platforms, traditional SaaS providers face increased competition for the same dollar pool.
This budget reallocation trend signals a broader transformation in enterprise software priorities, with AI capabilities becoming mission-critical rather than experimental. The sustained nature of these declines across all major players indicates this may represent a permanent shift rather than a temporary downturn.