The Future of Business SaaS: Why Generative AI Alone Won’t Disrupt Complex Work

Last week an investor who missed our funding round asked me my view on AI disrupting the SaaS industry. There’s been no shortage of headlines proclaiming the imminent AI-driven revolution in work. And to be fair, some transformations are already underway: coding assistants, smart writing tools, AI-enhanced chatbots. But the promise that generative AI will “replace” complex jobs hasn’t yet materialised. At Ishikawa Technologies, we think that’s no accident. And we believe it reveals something essential about the future of business software.

Tacit Knowledge: The Invisible Core of Complex Work

At a recent MIT forum, economist Daron Acemoglu put it plainly: much of the work done in real businesses relies on deep, context-sensitive knowledge that isn’t written down anywhere. It’s what you learn on the job, in conversation, through trial and error. Think about the work of accountants, operations managers, or sales leaders. These aren’t just rule-following roles. They require judgment, relationships, and the ability to navigate ambiguity.

Today’s large language models (LLMs) excel at mimicking knowledge. But they still struggle to embody the kind of lived expertise that real-world jobs require. Their training is broad, not deep; impressive, but often superficial.

I used ChatGPT to help me through the reams of paperwork and revisions in my acquisition of Big Red Cloud Group last month. It helped me spot changes between versions of documents, it explained jargon to me, and it created lists of watch-outs. But it didn't replace my lawyers, who told me what was important and worth fighting for based on their lived experiences. My lawyers helped me get a fair deal over the line.

The Era of Scale Is Peaking

For the past decade, the dominant strategy in AI has been to scale: more parameters, more data, bigger models. But according to Princeton computer scientist Arvind Narayanan, this approach is starting to reach its limits for nuanced, domain-specific problems. You can’t brute-force your way to understanding a specialised workflow in tax law, inventory planning, or compliance.

In fact, bigger models may not be the answer at all. We need something more focused: domain-specific deployment paired with human feedback. This is where the next evolution of SaaS will happen.

Why Software Still Needs Humans

At Ishikawa, we don't believe in replacing people. We believe in freeing them up; eliminating tedious, low-value work so they can spend more time exercising their judgment. That’s why our operating model doesn’t just acquire software companies. We embed experts - our Samurai - to work directly with teams, customers, and systems. They don’t observe from afar. They get inside the business. They ask hard questions. They listen. They design processes that blend technology with frontline insight.

Because no AI model knows your customers like you do.

The Real Path Forward: Sector-by-Sector Reinvention

AI won't “replace jobs.” It will reshape workflows slowly, carefully, industry by industry. We’ve already seen this in self-driving cars: a decade of slow progress, real-world pilots, hard lessons. The same is true in business SaaS.

The winners in this new era won’t be the ones with the flashiest chatbot. They’ll be the ones who know how to:

• Integrate AI into existing operational systems.

• Map workflows against real business goals.

• Pair automation with proactive customer success.

• Design feedback loops that continuously improve.

We’re already applying this at Big Red Cloud: rebuilding for the cloud, driving usage with customer success, and embedding pricing insights into renewal cycles. AI will help. But humans will drive.

Quotient Dynamics: A More Useful Lens

Someone recently suggested that “quotient dynamics” might hold the key to understanding how AI fits into the future of work. That got us thinking.

• IQ: Let AI do the heavy lifting on analysis and prediction.

• EQ: Let humans lead in empathy, coaching, negotiation.

• OQ: Let systems and processes support consistent execution.

At Ishikawa, we’re designing our businesses and our software around that principle. AI isn’t here to displace human intelligence. It’s here to amplify it, as long as the underlying systems are designed for learning, iteration, and feedback.

What It Means for Business SaaS

This new era of SaaS isn’t about killer features. It’s about coordinated, embedded change.

It’s about:

• Grounding AI in the real work of business.

• Building domain-specific intelligence, not generalised speculation.

• Aligning technology with workflows that customers already trust.

In short: the future of business SaaS is not a chatbot. It’s a platform for sustainable, human-led transformation made smarter by AI, but shaped by people who understand what work really looks like.

That’s the Ishikawa model. And we’re just getting started.