Venture Bytes #115: AI Agents are Set to Disrupt Software

In 2011, A16z famously declared, “Software is eating the world.” Marc Andreessen argued that software companies were poised to disrupt traditional industries, and he was right. Over the last decade, SaaS platforms have become a core part of enterprise productivity, enabling everything from CRM and HR management to marketing automation and customer support. Fast forward to 2025, we're on the brink of another paradigm shift where AI agents are set to disrupt software.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently suggested that the “notion that business applications exist” could “collapse” in the agentic AI era. Nadella pointed out that SaaS applications are, at their core, CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) systems—layers of user interface sitting atop databases. But what happens when AI agents, empowered by advanced natural language understanding and decision-making capabilities, can bypass these interfaces altogether? Imagine asking an AI agent to “increase customer retention by 15% this quarter,” and it dynamically analyzes data, identifies trends, and deploys strategies across channels—all without requiring human navigation of dashboards or tools. The implications for productivity and innovation are staggering.

Excel is a prime example of how traditional tools are evolving into AI-powered platforms. With the integration of Python, Excel has transformed from a basic spreadsheet into an advanced analytical assistant. Now, Excel can function as a virtual analyst—generating scenarios, suggesting solutions, and executing actions.

The SaaS industry, while transformative, is fraught with inefficiencies that hinder its full potential. Key challenges include rising shelfware, persistent data silos, and rigid per-seat pricing models. According to a survey by BetterCloud, an independent software vendor, 42% of IT professionals identify unused or underutilized SaaS licenses as their most pressing concern. Furthermore, approximately one-third of respondents estimate that 20-39% of their SaaS budgets are wasted. With the average annual SaaS expenditure per employee at $3,500, these inefficiencies represent a significant drain on resources.

Unlike traditional SaaS tools, Agentic AI introduces a fundamentally different approach. This transformative model leverages intelligent agents to orchestrate workflows across functions, producing tangible outputs rather than merely facilitating processes. Agentic AI also shifts the pricing paradigm from per-seat licensing to a value-based model, where enterprises pay for the actual results delivered, eliminating the overpayment for unused licenses.

The true potential of AI lies in multi-agent systems, where specialized agents collaborate to automate and optimize complex workflows beyond the capabilities of individual agents. Multi-agent architectures, though still in their infancy, are rapidly gaining momentum in enterprise use cases such as customer service and software development. According to CapGemini, 82% of organizations plan to adopt autonomous agents within the next one to three years, highlighting a shift toward AI-driven operations that optimize workflows and decision-making. This enthusiasm is so pronounced that Salesforce’s CEO has stated they do not anticipate hiring software engineers in 2025.

With AI agents set to see increased adoption, the software industry is set to change drastically in the coming years. A likely scenario is SaaS companies integrating AI agents or modules, like Replit’s AI agent, Intercom’s conversational AI, and Salesforce’s Agentforce, to create smarter, more dynamic platforms. We will also see traditional SaaS applications increasingly merged into an AI-dominated ecosystem.

Stablecoins are set to go mainstream. Once considered speculative instruments, stablecoins are now considered essential for global finance. The shift started in 2024, and 2025 will see it become more integral to enhancing liquidity and expediting payment processes.

The numbers underscore this shift as stablecoins continue to show a strong product-market fit for a variety of use cases including payments, remittances, and settlement. In 2Q24, stablecoins facilitated a staggering $8.5 trillion in transaction volume across 1.1 billion transactions. For comparison, Visa facilitated only $3.9 trillion over the same period. Active stablecoin addresses too have grown 15x between July 2020 and May 2024, adding an average of 220,000 new addresses per month, according to Visa Onchain Analytics Dashboard.

The rise of stablecoins is fueled by their ability to deliver better performance and faster processing at lower costs. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are pegged to fiat currencies, which ensures their value remains stable. The combination of stability with the speed and flexibility inherent in cryptocurrencies positions stablecoins as a superior alternative for modern financial transactions.

Significant advancements in scaling technologies have slashed the cost of executing stablecoin, as well as broader crypto transactions, by more than 99% in some cases. For instance, on the Ethereum network, the average gas fee for a transaction involving USDC plummeted to just $1 in October 2024, a dramatic decrease from the $12 average recorded in 2021. When compared to traditional financial systems, these costs are remarkably lower. For example, an international wire transfer typically incurs an average fee of $44, according to a16z’s analysis. In 2023, Stripe processed over $1 trillion in payments, charging 2.9% plus 30 cents per domestic card transaction. In comparison, high throughput blockchains like Solana or Ethereum L2s enable stablecoin payments at an average cost of less than a cent.

Additionally, blockchain capacity is growing exponentially, now handling over 50 times more transactions per second than four years ago. Ethereum Layer 2 solutions and high throughput blockchains, which enhance efficiency while maintaining security, are driving this growth.

Businesses stand to gain significantly from the financial incentives offered by stablecoins. Current payment system transaction fees hurt many businesses’ bottom lines directly. An analysis by a16z suggests that Walmart, Chipotle, and Kroger could significantly boost profitability by reducing credit card fees through stablecoin payments—Walmart could see a 60% increase in valuation, Chipotle a 12% boost to profitability, and Kroger could potentially double its profits.

In a volatile global economy, dollar-denominated stablecoins are becoming a key tool for emerging economies to combat currency instability. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) across 17 countries, long-term currency instability resulted in cumulative GDP losses totaling $1.2 trillion, representing an average of 9.4% of GDP. These stablecoins enable businesses and individuals in volatile currency environments to bypass the risks associated with fluctuating local currencies.

Initially popularized by retail users and the crypto community, stablecoins are now gaining significant traction among institutions. FinTech giants and financial institutions are increasingly throwing their weight behind stablecoins. PayPal’s launch of PYUSD in August 2023 marked a pivotal step in its digital currency strategy, signaling mainstream financial backing for stablecoins. Similarly, JP Morgan’s JPM Coin facilitates instant payments for institutional clients, demonstrating how stablecoins can revolutionize settlement times—cutting them from days to seconds. Also, Ripple launched RLUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, underscoring the growing institutional interest in stablecoins as versatile financial tools.

The stablecoin market is set for increased competition, with its total market capitalization now around $205 billion, per Bloomberg. This growth indicates burgeoning investment opportunities across various layers of the stablecoin ecosystem including the merchant layer, which drives stablecoin adoption in retail and business transactions, and stablecoin orchestration, which provides essential services like on-and-off ramps and cross-border transfers. Stripe’s acquisition of Circle, a Texas-based stablecoin orchestration and issuance start-up, highlights how stablecoin startups are becoming valuable investments. California-based Stellar maintains a strong position in the blockchain-based payment and asset tokenization sector, particularly for cross-border transactions.

Stablecoin issuers also represent a key investment opportunity. Ripple, a leader in blockchain-based cross-border payments with a $15 billion valuation, stands out as a top pick. Its RLUSD stablecoin surpassed PayPal’s PYUSD and Circle’s EURC in 24-hour trading volume within just a month, now ranking fourth behind USDC, USDT, and FDUSD.

Companies like Fireblocks, which offers secure digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions and businesses, are increasingly positioned as attractive investment opportunities. Despite the volatility in the crypto market, Fireblocks successfully secured a $550 million Series E funding round in January 2022, at $8 billion valuation. The company’s strategic acquisition of stablecoin issuer First Digital in February 2022 further strengthens its market position, expanding its capabilities in the growing stablecoin sector.

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