Gate News message: OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap recently said that, amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence, traditional software companies have not been marginalized. Instead, they are actively transforming, deeply integrating AI capabilities into their existing product ecosystems. In a podcast appearance, he noted that most software companies are pushing innovation at nearly the pace of startups, while also drawing on long-accumulated customer relationships that give them unique competitive advantages.
This statement came after software stocks saw a sharp pullback. Since February 2026, concerns that AI could replace traditional software have intensified in the market. Technology companies, including Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, and Snowflake, saw their stock prices generally fall by about 24% to 30%. Some investors worry that companies in the future may build their own tools with the help of artificial intelligence, thereby weakening the traditional SaaS business model.
However, views within the industry are not uniform. Asana CEO Dan Rogers believes that the widespread adoption of AI agents will significantly increase collaboration complexity, in turn strengthening the demand for work management software. He said that the coordination between humans and many AI systems will drive enterprise software to evolve to a higher level. Meanwhile, a16z partner Anish Acharya also said that the cost advantage of using AI to replace ERP or CRM systems is limited, making it difficult to form a disruptive alternative.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang similarly denied the notion that “software is being replaced,” emphasizing that AI development depends on existing software infrastructure rather than fully rebuilding systems from scratch.
Against this backdrop, the market has begun to reexamine the relationship between AI and traditional software. Analysts believe that as enterprises accelerate their AI deployments, software companies that have data, customer resources, and product integration capabilities may realize value recovery in the next technology cycle.
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