SAP’s chief executive claims so‑called vibe coding, a style of AI‑driven software generation, could eliminate the need for human developers at the company within four years. At the same time SAP argues investors will rotate back into software‑as‑a‑service after they rushed into AI infrastructure plays during what the market now calls the “SaaSPocalypse”.
The company stresses that its systems sit on customers’ proprietary operational data, which generic AI models cannot easily replicate or displace. SAP believes that data moat underpins the long‑term value of its cloud applications.
The German software group faces the same share market pressure as Australian rival Atlassian and a long list of listed SaaS businesses. Investors worry that increasingly capable AI platforms will erode the need for traditional packaged software, especially in areas like coding, automation and analytics.
SAP’s stock on the New York Stock Exchange has fallen 34 % in 2026 so far to $US155.22. The current share price still values the company at about $US195 billion, highlighting how much faith the market previously placed in the SaaS model.
SAP is effectively betting that being embedded in customers’ core processes and data gives it resilience, even if AI automates its own development teams. Proponents inside the company argue that AI copilots and coding tools will accelerate product delivery rather than simply hollow out demand.
Critics in the broader market point to the brutal rerating of SaaS names as evidence that investors now prize AI infrastructure such as chips and foundational models more highly. For SAP and its peers, the next few years will test whether deep, proprietary customer data can shield legacy software businesses from AI‑driven disruption.
