The way businesses approach automation is changing fast. SaaS transformed software over the last 25 years, but now we’re seeing a shift toward AI-driven platforms that leverage digital employees or agents that blend software and services in ways SaaS never could. The rise of AI Agents Platforms (AIAPs) or Agents as a Service (AaaS) shows companies are moving beyond traditional software to fully automate complex business operations using their company’s tribal knowledge—without all the manual effort that’s always been required. Think of these platforms as part AI-enabled software and part people, blurring the line between “something” and “someone” to do tasks for the buyer.
At Spiral Scout, we’re not just watching this trend; we’re building Wippy to lead in this direction.
I have to be clear to start. AI-enabled services aren’t about replacing humans but turning human expertise into scalable and reusable software workflows and supercharging those leveraging them. It’s not just automating tasks—it’s creating AI agents that evolve, improve, hold memories, and integrate seamlessly into your existing business processes. That’s why Wippy is far from another “AI tool”—it’s an AI automation framework or operating system that is designed to bring real operational intelligence and specific problem-solving capabilities to companies that need it most.
So, where does Wippy fit in this shift from SaaS to Agents as a Service Platforms? Let’s dig into what’s happening, why it matters, and how Wippy is leading the charge.
From SaaS to Agents as a Service Platforms: The Next Big Shift
Over the 25+ years, SaaS was the gold standard for software businesses. The logic was simple:
- Instead of selling software on floppy discs and CD-ROMs (like in the 90s) or on-premise solutions, deliver to users via the cloud.
- Charge monthly or yearly subscriptions for a nice chunk of recurring revenue.
- Make switching costs high enough that companies stick around.
This model worked. Salesforce has crushed it and built an empire on it. Today, there are 350+ SaaS companies worth more than $1 billion. But SaaS has its limits, especially when it comes to services, workflows, and AI automation.
What are the main reasons? SaaS tools don’t integrate perfectly, which is why companies spend millions on consultants, professional services, and outsourcing (to companies like Spiral Scout) just to make everything work together. What we will see in the future is something very different. The Agents as a Service Platform flips this dynamic by combining automation, AI agents, and expert-driven workflows using just natural language into a single system.
Companies like Palantir, UiPath, C3.ai, and Scale AI have already shown how AI can take what used to be a “services” business and turn it into a scalable, high-margin platform. Palantir has always been the model that has fascinated me for how they have evolved and built their business. Wippy is doing the same—but focusing on agentic AI and process automation that can be deployed instantly and securely, for example, inside Salesforce, enterprise workflows, and SaaS products.
Why This Matters: Agents as a Service Platforms vs. Traditional SaaS
Here’s why I think we are seeing Agents and services meshing closer with software taking off:
- Traditional SaaS isn’t built for complex workflows.
- Every company has its specific way of working, and SaaS tools rarely fit perfectly out of the box.
- That’s why enterprises end up hiring teams of consultants or outsourcing work (Spiral Scout built a great business around this) to BPOs and the professional services industry.
- BPOs and outsourcing can be costly and inefficient.
- BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing firms) handle back-office work for companies worldwide. Think customer support, outsourced IT, and legal claims processing which their customers don’t want to do or are not core to their business.
- At last check, BPOs generate over $300 billion per year (in 2024) and will balloon to over $500 billion in 2030, but they rely heavily on manual labor overseas doing boring tasks and outdated tech which can lead to human errors (or depression).
- Agents as a Service Platforms are unbundling this model—replacing entire BPO workflows with AI agents that operate at software speed, constantly evolving/improving, without the overhead or complaints about how boring or mundane a task could be.
- AI-enabled automation is smarter, faster, and scalable.
- Instead of just offering a “tool,” Agents act as an extension of a company’s operations and employees to solve problems.
- AI can work 24/7, integrate with existing tools (even legacy ones with terrible documentation), continuously improve over time, and keep humans in the loop when they are needed.
We believe there is a clear opportunity with agents to productize and de-couple the BPO model and offer a software product/service to those legacy industries. AI can handle this work and it’s only getting better.
What Wippy Is Doing Differently
Wippy isn’t just another AI chatbot/co-pilot or automation tool (think Zapier or Make.com)—it’s an agentic AI framework that allows companies to build and deploy AI-powered workflows inside their existing software stack quickly, and securely, using natural language and without needing a massive investment in AI engineers on their staff.
Here’s what makes Wippy different:
- Self-Modifying AI Agents: The agents our customers or we create don’t just follow scripts—they learn, adapt, and improve over time. It is mindboggling to see their progress.
- Multi-Tenant Architecture: We designed this for SaaS companies and enterprises that need AI-driven automation across multiple customers, workflows, and teams.
- Lifecycle Management: AI workflows need updates, monitoring, and optimization—Wippy handles this automatically and elegantly.
- Deep Integration with Salesforce & Enterprise Tools: Wippy connects seamlessly with CRMs, ERP systems, and SaaS platforms, allowing technical or non-technical teams to automate complex business logic without writing custom code (just use everyday English or German or whatever language you prefer).
What does that mean in the real world and solving problems that matter to companies:
- Sales teams don’t waste time manually updating CRM data. Wippy AI agents handle data cleanup, formatting, enrichment, and ingestion automatically and then help you do much more with that data.
- For businesses that have highly customizable products, variable pricing and supply chain/inventory management challenges, you don’t to rely on senior sales people to quote pricing based on their experience which can create inconsistencies, slow down sales and make it harder for junior sales people to be onboarded.
- Customer support agents don’t spend minutes or hours searching for answers and writing back to customers. AI agents pull relevant info instantly from a “source of truth”, reducing resolution times, adding consistency, and freeing up your customer support team to handle more urgent issues.
- Onboarding new employees doesn’t take months. AI-guided workflows handle training, compliance, process handoffs, and answering questions consistently which frees up your more senior people’s time.
That’s what Wippy can solve and enable today. But this is just the beginning.
The Future: Agents as a Service Platforms Will Redefine Work
If SaaS dominated the last 25 years, Agents as a Service Platforms will dominate the next 25.
We’re already seeing the shift:
- Palantir, UiPath, and C3.ai are growing rapidly because they’ve evolved beyond traditional services into scalable AI platforms.
- BPO and outsourced labor models are currently being disrupted by AI and their revenues will be impacted if they don’t address these changes. Most BPOs will start to address this and build their own products but it is not too late for startups to grab market share. We can predict that companies no longer need massive offshore teams to handle workflows—AI can take over.
- The cost of deploying AI agents on premise or securely in the cloud is dropping fast. As AI continues to improve, it’s becoming cheaper, faster, more secure and smarter than traditional outsourcing models.
At Wippy, our vision is clear:
- Automate AI, but keep control by having smart touchpoints in the process where a developer or human reviews and is kept in the loop where they need to be.
- Those employees today, who are great at delegating, will be the ones, who get the most out of Agents in the future.
- Eliminate busywork, but strengthen human decision-making and creativity.
- Make AI automation accessible, understandable and possible for every business, not just AI-first companies.
- Product value and results and be paid for those
We’re changing Spiral Scout and building Wippy to be the Agent as a Service Platform that companies rely on to automate their most critical workflows—without sacrificing flexibility, and control, while being maniacal about protecting a company’s privacy and data. Spiral Scout’s business will change and a tsunami will crash over the professional services industry as we know it. This is especially true in the software development. Wippy and other Agent as a Service Platforms give us confidence that this is where the “puck” is going and we are furiously skating there to prepare us and our clients/customers for the next 15 years.
The Bottom Line
The transition from SaaS to Agent as a Service Platforms is already happening. Companies are popping up and investors are taking notice and writing about these changing currents everyday. It can be dizzying, even for people working in the space, to see all the changes. The companies that recognize this shift early will be the ones that define the next era of enterprise software, build defensible moats and gain market share.
If you’re still thinking about AI as just another SaaS feature, you’re already behind and it’s worth having a chat with our leadership team to hear another point of view. The real transformation is happening in automation, where AI will replace entire business processes, not just optimize them.
At Wippy, we’re building the AI automation framework of the future. If you’re looking to scale AI-driven workflows internally for your organization or deploying Agents for your end customers—without the complexity—you can learn more about developing AI agent automation or reach out and let’s talk.
