When Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff highlighted an OpenAI partnership at the start of his keynote address at the software maker's Dreamforce conference this week, the kumbaya vibes were clear. But while the two companies expanded marketing ties, Salesforce and many other software makers have been among the worst-performing artificial intelligence stocks in 2025.
The growing worry on Wall Street has been that OpenAI's expanded offerings in the enterprise market pose a threat to Salesforce as well as other software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. Along with Google-parent Alphabet, OpenAI is a leader in developing AI models. OpenAI, the builder of ChatGPT, is expanding quickly from internet search into software coding, video creation and software apps.
"The debate over the 'Death of SaaS' has heated up, although rather than AI being the killer, the suspect list in the last couple weeks narrowed to just OpenAI," said KeyBanc Capital analyst Jackson Ader in a report.
OpenAI recently unveiled new capabilities for building apps inside ChatGPT. Ader noted that one fear among investors is that "AI disintermediates software application companies by collapsing the user interface."
'SaaSmageddon' Underway?
That means instead of using a software app's dashboards or menus, people could rely on the conversational interface of ChatGPT or other AI engines. Under that scenario, SaaS applications would be relegated to being a back-end data source. Users could stop logging into SaaS apps.
However, the message from Salesforce and other enterprise software makers has been that worries over an OpenAI threat are overblown. At Dreamforce, Salesforce announced that its Agentforce apps will be integrated into ChatGPT.
At the same time, though, Salesforce said it plans to make its Slack messaging platform an operating system for AI systems through a conversational user interface.
Bank of America analyst Brad Sills in a report said SaaS companies have time to adapt to OpenAI's enterprise push.
"There is little evidence of large-scale enterprise adoption of native AI offerings," he said. "Most vendors caught in the 'SaaSmageddon' crossfire are all building robust agentic capabilities themselves and are already beginning to capture share."
He added: "The true investor takeaway from OpenAI's announcements is not an imminent threat of SaaS disruption, but rather the long-term opportunity for AI to reimagine and enhance enterprise workflows within established software ecosystems."
AI Software Challenge: Adapt Or Die
Truist Securities analyst Terry Tillman holds a similar view.
"One might logically conclude you better get on board with reinventing your own technology and platform capabilities with AI or risk disruption from upstarts that are moving very rapidly and leveraging prompt engineering, AI and vibe coding to iterate commercial software businesses," Tillman said in a report.
At a Goldman Sachs conference in September, comments by OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar roiled the software industry. Friar compared an expected disruption in software to "fast fashion" — saying that software may become more rapidly iterated and more customized.
"Why do I buy planning software off the shelf?" Friar asked. "In the new world of autonomous software development … it's now possible to create bespoke software in-house."
Many software companies have been pressured by OpenAI, including ServiceNow, Workday, HubSpot, Adobe and Docusign.
Further, OpenAI recently launched its own AI-powered applications targeting use cases such as contract review, personalized sales responses, customer support and ticket handling.
Frenemies?
Mizuho Securities analyst Gregg Moskowitz expects SaaS companies to fight back. Acquisitions are one option. ServiceNow, Workday and Atlassian have already snapped up AI startups.
"Certain incumbents — often prematurely labeled as 'AI losers' — possess meaningful structural advantages that shouldn't be ignored," Moskowitz said in a report. "These include deep integration within enterprise workflows, strong network effects, vast existing datasets, and opportunities for both organic and inorganic innovation."
TD Cowen analyst Derrick Wood in a report said OpenAI plans to coexist with software incumbents. He said OpenAI's product introductions "suggest they are positioning more at the user-interface layer on top of incumbent system-of-record apps and will offer deep connectivity for multi-app workflows via a centralized AI chat interface."
Wood added: "There is the potential for the narrative to shift from 'AI eating software' to 'AI enhancing software' and for new AI value capture to be realized by SaaS vendors."
OpenAI Revenue Growth
What's clear is that OpenAI is well-funded and growing fast. A group of investors recently paid about $6.6 billion to buy shares owned by OpenAI employees, valuing the company at $500 billion. OpenAI's financial data typically comes out during its fundraising rounds.
In the first half of 2025, OpenAI generated $4.3 billion in revenue. It's on track to hit $13 billion in revenue for the year. Heading into 2026, OpenAI is expected to reach a revenue run-rate of $20 billion.
In addition, OpenAI posted an operating loss of $7.8 billion in the first half. The company hands over 20% of its revenue to Microsoft, its biggest investor.
Also, at its annual software developer's conference in early October, OpenAI released more financial metrics. OpenAI said it now has 4 million developers as customers and over 800 million weekly ChatGPT users. Most of its revenue comes from ChatGPT consumer and business subscriptions.
While OpenAI has been viewed as a big threat to Google's internet search business, many more companies are expected to be pressured by the tech behemoth. For example, OpenAI recently introduced the Sora 2 video app, which will provide competition for Meta and others. OpenAI has been leveraging its newest AI model, GPT-5.
OpenAI Diversification
"As OpenAI scales beyond its current revs run-rate to $100 billion, the consensus view is that it will have to diversify more aggressively beyond ChatGPT subscriptions," said UBS analyst Karl Kierstead in a report. "Software and internet investors are keenly focused on where OpenAI will go next and how disruptive it could be."
At BofA, Sills says OpenAI may be in no rush to make a big push into the enterprise market.
"OpenAI's recent hire of Fidji Simo, who comes from Instacart and Meta, to head applications suggests the company's near term focus could tilt towards consumer monetization and advertising before addressing the enterprise segment, giving some breathing room to SaaS companies," he said.
Long range, OpenAI is working on a consumer device that is expected to compete with Apple's iPhones.
Enterprise software companies may have mixed views on OpenAI's evolution. But many tech companies now have a big stake in its success.
Oracle and OpenAI have a massive AI data center buildout project called Stargate. Meanwhile, Nvidia has announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI will make cash purchases of Nvidia's advanced hardware systems.
Further, OpenAI has also signed big deals with AI chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
