We Pay Salesforce 83% More Than Last Year. But Stopped Using Notion
The article discusses how AI agents are reshaping software usage and spending, using Salesforce and Notion as contrasting examples. While the company's Salesforce costs rose 83% due to heavy AI agent usage, Notion was abandoned despite strong AI features because agents don't use it. This highlights a shift in B2B software value from human-centric interfaces to systems critical to AI workflows.
- ▪The company now pays $22,000 annually for Salesforce, up from $12,000, despite having 80% fewer human users.
- ▪AI agents use Salesforce roughly 100 times more than humans did, driving up consumption-based costs.
- ▪Notion is no longer used by the company’s AI agents, even though Notion AI is well-regarded and the company still pays for it.
- ▪The shift reflects a broader trend where AI agents determine software value based on utility to automated workflows, not human preference.
- ▪Many B2B companies may face 'stealth churn' as AI adoption reduces reliance on tools that aren't integrated into agent-driven processes.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Why We Pay Salesforce 83% More Than Last Year. But Stopped Using Notion Entirely. The AI Agent Seat Problem Is Real. by Jason Lemkin | Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blog Posts, SaaStr.Ai Is the business model for traditional B2B software in permanent decline because AI agents don’t need seats? The answer right now, at least from our own data running SaaStr with 3 humans and 20+ AI agents, is more complicated than the simple “seats are dead” narrative making the rounds. It cuts both ways. And for us … hard. Let me give you two examples from our own stack. Same vintage, both companies that have shipped real AI features, both companies we genuinely liked. One we now pay 83% more to. The other we still pay, but stopped using months ago. Exhibit A: Salesforce.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at SaaStr.
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