Aaron Levie, Box’s co-founder and CEO, doesn’t anticipate AI agents supplanting enterprise SaaS (software as a service) firms. Instead, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference on Wednesday, he posited that a SaaS and agent hybrid is the more probable scenario.
Levie clarified, “In general, after establishing a business process, the aim is to define it using business logic within deterministic systems, primarily due to the considerable risk of daily alterations.”
“Considering the criticality of certain tasks, we’ve already observed notable instances of data breaches caused by agents, or agents potentially disrupting databases or causing unexpected issues in production. Consequently, it’s beneficial to maintain a ‘church and state’ separation between the deterministic aspects of your software and the non-deterministic elements.”
He depicted an enterprise software landscape where SaaS addresses core business operations, with agents enhancing the functionality. These agents could aid in decision-making, streamline workflows, or expedite processes within the system, according to the executive.
Additionally, Levie noted that this change would significantly reshape the enterprise SaaS business model.
“I am strongly convinced that the number of agents will surpass the number of people by approximately 100 to 1,000 times. Consequently, the user base of that software system, or SaaS, will consist of significantly more agents,” Levie stated.
Consequently, the traditional “per-seat” model will become obsolete, necessitating that businesses adopt consumption and volume-based pricing for AI agent use cases.
These developments present market opportunities for startups, particularly those focused on building for the agent-first paradigm, as opposed to larger companies incorporating agents into existing frameworks.
He mentioned that smaller startups, unencumbered by established business processes, are free to engineer new processes with an agent-first orientation.
According to Levie, this provides startups with the chance to develop enterprise solutions that streamline and facilitate the change management process.
He urged entrepreneurs to leverage this transition by developing new solutions.
Levie stated, “We are currently in a unique window, unseen for about fifteen years, where a comprehensive platform shift in technology is creating opportunities for new companies to emerge.”
“And my advice would be to fully capitalize on this.”
