The seat-license model that underpins much of the enterprise software industry could face mounting pressure as AI agents reduce the need for human users, a prominent investment chief warned Monday, raising questions about the long-term growth trajectory of companies like Salesforce Inc.(NYSE:CRM) and ServiceNow Inc.(NYSE:NOW).<\/p>\n
“The seat license model is just going to be under a lot of pressure,” Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer at Parnassus Investments, said on Bloomberg Television, citing the rapid ascent of AI platforms from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google’s Gemini.<\/p>\n
The core of his argument is straightforward: if AI enables companies to expand output without adding headcount, they may no longer need to keep purchasing additional software licenses alongside new hires.<\/p>\n
“We wish them well. They’re good companies,” Ahlsten said. “I just think the long-term bankability of that is going to be challenging.”<\/p>\n
Why Headcount May No Longer Drive Software Revenue<\/p>\n
Ahlsten’s concern centers on the historical link between customer headcount and software revenue. Traditionally, companies hired more workers, those workers required more software accounts, and vendors collected more recurring revenue. AI agents fundamentally alter that equation because organizations can scale operations without hiring another employee who needs another software seat.<\/p>\n
Consulting firm Bain & Company analyzed more than 30 SaaS vendors introducing generative AI and found approximately 65% had adopted hybrid pricing models, layering AI usage or feature-based charges on top of traditional per-seat pricing. That shift does not mean seat-based pricing is disappearing, but it supports the argument that software companies may need to rely less on customer headcount growth to drive revenue.<\/p>\n
Both Salesforce and ServiceNow are already adapting, adding usage-based AI pricing alongside their traditional per-user licenses. That gives them an alternative path to revenue growth if customers begin deploying AI agents instead of expanding their workforces.<\/p>\n
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has said the company kept its engineering workforce at roughly 15,000 for about two years while AI helped those engineers become more productive. That is precisely the kind of change Ahlsten is flagging: if Salesforce customers can grow without hiring as many people, they may also need fewer new software seats.<\/p>\n
Companies Push Back<\/p>\n
Salesforce argues that AI can generate new revenue through other channels. On its May earnings call, the company said its Sales and Service products were still seeing year-over-year seat growth. It also disclosed that its 10 customers making the heaviest use of its AI agents increased their total Salesforce spending by 1.5 times over the previous year.<\/p>\n
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott told The Wall Street Journal that roughly half of net new business revenue now comes from non-seat-based models, underscoring the company’s shift toward consumption-based and AI-driven offerings.<\/p>\n
What It Means for Investors<\/p>\n
The critical question for investors is whether revenue from AI agents and digital workers can grow fast enough to offset any decline in demand for human seats. The transition is already underway at both companies, but the pace and magnitude of the shift remain uncertain.<\/p>\n
CompanyAI Pricing StrategyKey MetricSalesforceUsage-based AI pricing alongside per-user licensesTop 10 AI-agent customers increased spend 1.5x year-over-yearServiceNowNon-seat-based models gaining share~50% of net new business revenue from non-seat models<\/p>\n
Note: Salesforce data from May earnings call; ServiceNow figure reported by CEO Bill McDermott to The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n
If AI agents become the primary driver of enterprise productivity gains, the seat-license model that has powered decades of software industry growth could face a structural reset. Companies that successfully transition to usage-based or outcome-based pricing may thrive, while those that fail to adapt could see revenue growth decouple from the broader AI boom.<\/p>\n
For Salesforce and ServiceNow, the stakes are particularly high. Both have built substantial AI agent capabilities and are actively repositioning their pricing models. The question is whether those new revenue streams can scale quickly enough to replace the predictable, high-margin seat licenses that have long been the foundation of their businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The seat-license model that underpins much of the enterprise software industry could face mounting pressure as AI agents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[405,53,7537,3586,59862,1430,2940,157,71061,2942,327,71060],"class_list":["post-144310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-agentic-ai","tag-ai-agents","tag-anthropic","tag-artificial-intelligence-agents","tag-bain-company","tag-bill-mcdermott","tag-google-gemini","tag-marc-benioff","tag-openai","tag-parnassus-investments","tag-salesforce","tag-servicenow","tag-todd-ahlsten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}