AI Is Coming For These Industries

· Source: No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups · Field: Business & Management — Corporate Strategy & Leadership, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups, Consulting & Professional Services · Depth: Intermediate, quick

Summary

Capital is shifting from traditional software companies towards AI infrastructure labs and AI-native firms, reflecting a market perception of AI's disruptive potential across various non-AI native industries. This trend has been observed in sectors like wealth advisory, consulting, payments, and real estate, particularly towards late 2025 and into 2026, as AI's usability and disruptive capabilities improved. Despite this rotation, SaaS companies are currently valued at their lowest in years from a free cash flow perspective, even as their free cash flow margins have significantly increased over the past four to five years, while revenue multiples have either remained flat or declined.

Key takeaway

For entrepreneurs evaluating market opportunities, recognize that AI's growing capabilities are rapidly reshaping established industries like wealth advisory, consulting, payments, and real estate. Your focus should be on developing AI-native solutions that directly address these disruptions, rather than solely relying on traditional SaaS models, which currently face depressed valuations despite strong free cash flow.

Key insights

AI's increasing usability is driving capital rotation from traditional software to AI-native industries.

Principles

Topics

Best for: Entrepreneur, Investor, Business Analyst, Executive

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups.