What does it mean to be a SaaS founder in a world where AI can build features faster than we ever could? In this conversation, Craig sits down with Arvid Kahl to unpack the shifting reality of software, competition, and the craft of SaaS in 2026. They talk about code velocity, discernment, marketing in an AI-saturated world, and why SaaS is not dead, even as the software part becomes commoditized. Listen in to find out what actually matters these days, if you want to build something that lasts.
Highlights from Craig and Arvid’s conversation:
- AI is shifting the founder’s role from building to judging quality and making decisions
- Code velocity now matters more than perfect architecture for most SaaS products
- Replacing junior developers entirely with AI risks creating a future talent gap
- Your real competition increasingly includes general AI tools, not just other SaaS companies
- AI has leveled the marketing baseline, making differentiation and brand more important than ever
- Standing out requires taste, point of view, and clear positioning, not just tactics
- Acquiring legacy SaaS and refactoring with AI could be a major opportunity
- The service part of SaaS still matters most, because AI generates products but not businesses
Resources and Links from This Episode
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Chapters
- (00:00:00) - What Does It Mean to Be a SaaS Founder in 20
- (00:01:04) - What's the Next 3 or 4 Steps in Your Career?
- (00:10:01) - Building an AI-ready database in minutes
- (00:17:18) - Code Review: The Need for Continuous Development
- (00:21:09) - SaaS vs AI: Buy, Integrate, Arbitrage
- (00:23:45) - Are We Ready for AI in Medical Applications?
- (00:25:32) - Bill Gates on AI and Growth
- (00:30:31) - Marketing: The Challenge of Standing Out
- (00:34:42) - SaaS as a Service
- (00:38:52) - Agents and the agentic loop
- (00:42:00) - Will Agents Be Autonomous in the Future?
- (00:47:19) - Will Salesforce Give Marketing a Full API Access?
- (00:48:39) - Agile Coding: How to Keep Up with Everything
- (00:55:24) - An Optimistic View of the Market
