Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation. Boards and leadership teams are no longer asking whether to adopt AI, they are asking how quickly they can execute without destabilizing their organization.
What many companies discover is that the biggest obstacle is not technology. It is leadership.
For decades, SaaS growth relied on expanding users and licenses. The more seats a company sold, the higher its perceived value.
Agentic AI introduces a different possibility, one where software doesn’t just support work, but performs it.
That shift has led to a “SaaSpocolypse.” Software as a Service companies have shed market value in the face of the rapid emergence of agentic AI. In response, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block, laid off 40 percent of his workforce and was rewarded with a 24 percent jump in the company’s stock price.
Is that the only way forward? No, says one of our InterimExecs RED Team CIOs.
AI is often framed as a productivity story. But, according to one of our RED Team Interim CIOs whose expertise involves transforming organizations using AI and technology, the problem is something very different.
“They don’t have the workforce.”
“Agentic AI” is one of the hottest terms out there. But what does agentic AI really mean? It’s not chatbots, copilots, or incremental automation. That is so last week in our AI-fueled world.
In our interview with an Interim CIO who has led multiple deployments, the distinction was clear: agentic AI isn’t about assisting users, it’s about artificial intelligence agents actually doing the work.
And it’s big. Really big. In fact, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in his keynote address at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show that enterprise AI agents would create a “multi-trillion-dollar opportunity” for many industries, from medicine to software engineering.
So how do you get a piece of that?
Agentic AI changes how software works by executing workflows instead of supporting users. This shift challenges seat-based SaaS economics and requires experienced executive leadership to guide transformation.
For years, SaaS valuations were built on a familiar model: growth, recurring revenue, and expanding user seats. Companies scaled by adding customers and increasing adoption inside organizations.
No more.
Agentic AI is changing not just how software is built, but how work itself gets done. And for many SaaS companies, especially those in the broad middle of the market, that shift has immediate implications for valuation, growth narratives, exit strategies, and executive leadership needs.
1. AI needs guardrails. Leaders must establish clear rules for what employees can and cannot put into AI tools.
2. Don’t outsource judgment. AI can accelerate analysis and execution, but important decisions still require human expertise, context, and accountability.
3. Safe AI is a leadership issue. The goal isn’t to restrict AI; it’s to create enough governance that people can use it productively without exposing the organization to unnecessary risk.
Artificial intelligence has moved from “interesting experiment” to “board-level priority” with remarkable speed. While CEOs and executive teams now believe AI can materially improve efficiency, decision-making, and growth, they share a quieter concern:
How do we use AI safely so we don’t put our most sensitive data, IP, and competitive advantage at risk?
The good news is that companies can unlock real value from AI without putting proprietary information at risk — and they can do so without rushing into a costly, permanent hire before they’re ready.
Here’s how.
Most CEOs know something’s not working — but they can’t always articulate what they need, or who they need in the seat.
Enter Artificial Intelligence.
Lately, we’ve noticed more CEOs coming to us with excellent summaries of their business situation — often generated with AI. Honestly? We love it. A clear brief = faster, better match to the right interim leader.
The worst place to be as a CEO is knowing something is off… but not being able to name it.
AI helps you find the language.
A proven interim executive helps you fix the problem.
This guide (written with the assistance of AI!) gives you the exact ChatGPT prompts you need to help clarify:
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