Jordan Zamir is Co-Founder and CEO at Turnstile, an AI-first quote-to-cash platform for modern SaaS.
getty
The tech industry seems obsessed with an autopsy of the traditional SaaS model. We hear terms like the SaaSpocalypse or the "death of the seat-based model" on a daily basis.
The argument is simple: If AI can generate functional code in seconds, why should a company pay a premium for third-party SaaS software when they can simply build a custom version of that tool internally?
This narrative suggests a binary world where software is either bought at a high price or built for free, but the reality is more nuanced. I predict that we are not seeing the death of SaaS, but rather a sharp bifurcation of the software landscape.
On one end, we have tools defined by "vibes" and internal convenience. On the other end, we have systems defined by high-stakes accuracy and financial integrity. Understanding where your requirements sit on this spectrum is the difference between an agile, focused engineering team and one drowning in the technical debt of a home-grown system of record.
The Prototype Delusion And The Era Of Vibe Coding
At the low-risk end of the spectrum are tools that solve for internal workflows or data visualization. These are the "nice-to-haves" that help a team stay organized but don't directly touch a customer's pocketbook or a legal contract. I find that AI is uniquely suited for this layer. We have entered the era of vibe coding, where a nontechnical manager can describe a basic project tracker to an LLM and receive a working prototype.
The trap, however, is the ease of the prototype. AI makes it deceptively easy to build something that looks like a solution in an afternoon. But there is a massive chasm between a functional prototype and production-grade software that survives the edge cases of reality.
If an internal sentiment tracker is 95% accurate, the 5% margin of error is a rounding error in human productivity. It's likely more accurate than the manual work a human was doing before the automated tracker. For these use cases, the traditional "buy" model is indeed under pressure because the cost of "build" has dropped to near zero.
The Liability Of Inexperience
The middle ground of the spectrum consists of utility tools like marketing attribution or scheduling. Think of a tool like Calendly; it provides immense value, but it is often adjacent to larger ecosystems. While you could build a basic scheduling script today, the maintenance of integrations such as syncing with shifting APIs for Google Calendar or Outlook is rarely a good use of time.
The "build it yourself" argument completely falls apart when you move into high-risk systems. These include your billing engine, tax compliance or ledger. These are your systems of record. Unlike an internal tracker, a system of record requires 100% accuracy. There is no such thing as "vibe coding" a sales tax calculation for 10,000-plus global jurisdictions or a double-entry accounting ledger.
As a further illustration, if your usage-based billing tool is 95% accurate, you are mischarging 5% of your customers; this means you are either overcharging, leading to churn and legal issues, or under-collecting, leading to revenue leakage. When software touches your quote-to-cash process, the complexity scales exponentially.
You aren't just writing code to display a number; you are building for tax compliance, multicurrency support and audit trails. These are the parts of the business where 100% accuracy is the baseline expectation.
Business Building Versus Research Labs
A dangerous leadership mistake to make is assuming your team can become an expert in every niche part of the back office. Teams are typically overly optimistic when it comes to their estimations of the work required to build and maintain software outside of their current domain. Engineers, in particular, love to build and tinker. They are often drawn to the "how hard can it be?" challenge of a complex problem. But you are building a business, not a research lab.
Every hour your engineering team spends trying to solve the edge cases of a prorated subscription or a complex usage trigger is an hour they are not spending on your core product. You do not win the market by having a bespoke, home-grown billing system. No venture capitalist has ever led a Series B because a startup had the most creative way of generating the most beautiful invoice. If that truly was a differentiator, you should consider productizing and selling that capability.
I find that focusing resources on building critical, but universally required functionality is a strategic mistake that offers no competitive advantage. Even achieving a flawless, 100% accurate system, like a tax engine, only brings you to parity with an existing, purchasable solution. This effort sacrifices valuable engineering time (both build and maintenance time) that could have been dedicated to enhancing your unique product and competitive advantage.
Investing In What Makes You Different
I recommend the following strategic mandate for modern leaders: Buy everything that is standard off the shelf so you can afford to build everything that is unique and differentiated in-house. Founders and finance leaders should not want to be experts in the tools that enable revenue orchestration; they should want to be experts in solving their customers' problems.
If a tool exists that "just works" and provides the high accuracy required for your financial integrity, the ROI on buying it is almost infinite. It buys you the most precious resource in a competitive market: focus.
As the noise around the SaaSpocalypse grows, look at your road map through the lens of risk. If a tool's failure results in a minor internal annoyance, tinker with AI-built solutions. But if a tool's failure results in an accounting nightmare or an inaccurate customer bill, pay for the expertise of a dedicated solution. It is not only likely cheaper but also more accurate.
The goal isn't to build the most software; it's to build the most customer value. For core infrastructure where accuracy is paramount and differentiation potential is limited, buying is the best way to ensure your sharpest minds stay focused on the work that actually matters: solving your customers' problems.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?