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Constant innovation and a profound understanding of customer needs are crucial for maintaining relevance in the ever-evolving <keyword id="11064864" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-industry" source="Orion">SaaS industry</keyword>. And it goes beyond just deciphering customer requests. True insight is gleaned by actively listening to their perspectives and aligning innovations with their overarching <keyword id="2422188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-goals" source="Orion">business goals</keyword>. Raviteja Dodda, Founder and CEO of MoEngage, emphasised these principles during a compelling discussion with Jeff Klaus, Head of Worldwide ISV Strategy and Development at AWS India. This discussion is part of the <keyword id="6395918" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="saas" source="Orion">SaaS</keyword> Scions web series, jointly hosted by Business Insider India and AWS India. Dodda underscored the foresight required to anticipate how enterprise brands will leverage <keyword id="2582671" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-products" source="Orion">SaaS products</keyword> in the next five years, stressing on the pivotal role of forward-thinking in fostering innovation and evolution within companies. This strategic approach involves meeting customers’ current needs and addressing future requirements, thus ensuring a cycle of improvement. The conversation delved into the significance of generative AI in enhancing customer experience and the interconnectedness between technology and innovation in the SaaS industry. Regardless of the industry, be it e-commerce, retail, or financial services, technology helps decipher consumer behaviour. By harnessing the power of AI-driven personalization and automation, enterprise companies can extract valuable insights about their customers, enabling them to craft more tailored and effective engagement approaches. Speaking about the importance of AI within his company, Raviteja outlined their journey – commencing with their investment in AI capabilities in 2016, just two years after the inception of their venture. They bring all engagement channels to one platform through strategic integration of AI and automation. This empowers <keyword id="2547868" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer-brands" source="Orion">consumer brands</keyword> to guide customers through different life cycles and stages. By leveraging AI, MoEngage helps identify the optimal engagement moment for each customer and the type of content that drives high conversions, fine-tune the message cadence, and profile customers based on their propensities. Sharing suggestions and best practices that have helped MoEngage capture the market beyond India, Raviteja explained that they have constantly evolved their go-to-market (GTM) approach over the past nine years, especially in the SaaS landscape. Recognizing the time it takes to witness tangible results in SaaS endeavours, he emphasised the need to sow seeds in the present to drive growth in the future. "We have taken our GTM structure geographically and have GTM teams independently for each geography," Raviteja added. He credited their success to recruiting adept market launchers who spearhead the initial zero-to-one phase in each market, bringing seamless collaboration between sales, customer success, and marketing. For smaller SaaS enterprises grappling with uncertainties about initiating customer events or ensuring customer satisfaction, Raviteja advises leaping forward – underlining the direct correlation between brand awareness and accelerated growth. Sharing his top recommendations for others in the industry, Raviteja said that the first crucial resource is honesty about the product market fit, the right value proposition, and whether it resonates with the customer. "Don't be a tourist," he added. He cautioned against playing it by the ear in the initial months without a long-term plan. "Do different keywords to get up in terms of establishing the PMF, build a strong founding team, and scale it from there," Raviteja concluded. Raviteja's insights are a blueprint for navigating the dynamic SaaS landscape, advocating a blend of innovation, localization, and steadfast commitment to long-term goals. Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them at <a href="mailto:insiderstudios@businessinsider.in">insiderstudios@businessinsider.in</a>

From good to great: How SaaS shapes the customer engagement of tomorrow for consumer brands?

Global VC firm <keyword id="48032" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="blackstone" source="Orion">Blackstone</keyword> on Monday reached a definitive agreement to sell its stake in the Kerala-based software-as-a-service (<keyword id="6395918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SaaS" source="Orion">SaaS</keyword>) provider <keyword id="95627" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ibs-software" source="Orion">IBS Software</keyword> to global private equity firm Apax for $450 million. Following the transaction, Apax will partner closely with <keyword id="128946" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ibs" source="Orion">IBS</keyword> Software's Founder and Executive Chairman, V.K. Mathews, who will remain the majority shareholder. Founded in 1997, IBS Software provides next-generation SaaS solutions that power the most mission-critical operations at the world's leading aviation, tour and cruise, hospitality, and logistics companies. Backed by a team of 4000 professionals across the world with more than 25 years of deep domain expertise, IBS Software's scalable, cloud-native platform and demonstrated market leadership position it to define the future of mission-critical technology for the travel industry. "This investment is an endorsement of our strategy and our commitment and contribution to the industry, and we have a shared vision with Apax for the future of the business. We're grateful to the Blackstone team for their invaluable support over the years and we look forward to an exciting and fulfilling journey ahead with Apax," said Mathews of IBS Software. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q2 2023. Blackstone acquired about 40 per cent stake in IBS Software, from <keyword id="6375561" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="general-atlantic" source="Orion">General Atlantic</keyword>, in 2015 for $170 million. "Having closely monitored the travel software sector over the last several years, IBS Software stood out to us as uniquely positioned in the industry, offering a next-gen software suite that we believe is truly unrivalled," said Jason Wright, Partner, Apax. Amit Dixit, Head of Asia Private Equity, Blackstone added that they are happy to have played an important role in IBS Software's transformation to a SaaS company with global leadership in travel and logistics. "IBS is already one of the largest enterprise SaaS companies out of India. Value creation at IBS Software demonstrates our business-building approach to investing and reinforces our conviction in Technology as a sectoral theme," Dixit added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/lowest-scores-in-ipl-history-rajasthan-royals-joins-the-list-with-59-runs/slidelist/100249661.cms">Lowest scores in IPL history – Rajasthan Royals joins the list with 59 runs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/8-things-that-google-bard-can-do-but-chatgpt-cannot/articleshow/100187360.cms">8 things that Google Bard can do, but ChatGPT cannot</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/how-to-track-and-block-your-lost-smartphones-using-the-sanchar-saathi-portal/articleshow/100242116.cms">How to track and block your lost smartphones using the Sanchar Saathi portal</a>

Blackstone sells stake worth $450 mn in Indian firm IBS Software to Apax

<ul><li>The Indian <keyword id="10600982" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="B2B-SaaS" source="Orion">B2B SaaS</keyword> industry continues to have a bullish outlook for 2023 despite global headwinds. </li><li>Four out of 10 Indian B2B SaaS CXOs are targeting over 100% ARR growth. </li><li>The majority of such companies are from AI, HCM, Fintech and CRM/CDP SaaS segments.</li></ul>Unmoved by recessionary trends of the past year, the Indian B2B SaaS industry continues to have a bullish outlook for 2023, says a report by Ernst &amp; Young in partnership with Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator. It states that Indian SaaS growth is highly capital-efficient by default, across stages. Eight out of 10 Indian <keyword id="6756963" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="SaaS-companies" source="Orion">SaaS companies</keyword> have a burn multiple of under 1.5x. Globally, a burn multiple of less than 2-3x is a good state for growth stage — companies with $1 million to $100 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). “Indian B2B SaaS is about 2x capital efficient compared to its global counterparts. This places them well, when the capital ask shifts from ‘growth at all costs’ to ‘profitable growth’,” says Kamalanand Nithianandan, partner, Business Consulting, EY India. The growth outlook is balanced by financial and operational prudence, reflecting strong focus on building and scaling capital efficient businesses, says the report titled ‘Bellwethers of Indian SaaS’. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth" comment="subhead2" text="Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth">Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth</cmsannotation> Insights from the survey reveal that four out of 10 Indian B2B SaaS CXOs are targeting over 100% ARR growth (ultra-growth). A majority, eight out of 10 CXOs, are targeting above 50% ARR growth (hyper-growth) in 2023, as per the survey conducted by EY India and Upekkha. The majority of companies tagreting ultra-growth are from AI, HCM (human capital management) fintech, customer resource management (CRM) and customer data platform (CDP) segments. The funding scenario for Indian SaaS companies is also expected to remain bullish. The report highlights that with expected economic recovery in the second half of 2023 and availability of dry powder within the SaaS focused Indian VC/PE ecosystem, funding activity is expected to gain traction. “This presents an opportunity for Indian SaaS companies with demonstrated profitability to raise capital at favourable terms and double down on growth,” the report says. Alternative funding instruments, such as convertible notes, were emphasized against the backdrop of access to equity funding due to rising inflation rates. According to the report, 60% of company CXOs reported product innovation, pricing changes and partner-led expansion as their top strategic priorities. Top challenge inhibiting growth was ‘delay in customer closure cycle’ for 51% CXOs, whereas sales inefficiency came next for over 41% CXOs. Hiring and retention continue to be a key challenge, but CXOs also emphasize on adopting reskilling and training strategies to mitigate the talent shortage risk. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/stock-price-run-up-in-paytm-nykaa-zomato-pb-fintech-delhivery-could-see-large-shareholders-cashing-out-bofa/articleshow/98274102.cms">Stock price run up in Paytm, Nykaa, Zomato, PB Fintech &amp; Delhivery could see large shareholders cashing out - BofA</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/vr-app-allows-users-to-revisit-memories-previously-recorded-on-their-smartphones/articleshow/98275527.cms">This app is straight out of Black Mirror — it lets you capture and revisit memories in virtual reality</a>

Indian B2B SaaS companies are 2x more capital efficient than global peers: EY report

The de facto norm for creating and integrating contemporary apps has been and continues to be application programming interfaces, or APIs. Simply defined, APIs allow software to communicate with other software, which frees up more developers to work on creating more applications faster and innovating better. Although businesses have been using APIs for a while, there’s been a shift in the way these interfaces are viewed within organizations. Today, many competitive, forward-thinking companies view APIs as software products that enable developers to open up new digital business models and prospects rather than merely as an integration tool to link programmes and data. To give us a broader perspective on this, Abhinav Asthana, CEO and Founder of Postman spoke with Felipe LaMaitre, Director of Developer Relations at AWS, as part of the SaaS Scions web series by Business Insider India to further elaborate on this. Then a Software engineer, Abhinav Asthana launched Postman in 2012 as a side project with the intention of making API testing easier. Today, Postman has more than 25 million registered users and 75,000 open APIs, making it the largest public API hub in the world. Driving factors behind Postman’s success Postman’s popularity can be attributed to the numerous small measures that the company undertook. Asthana's advice to fellow founders is to create a support network of colleagues within the workplace as well as family and friends outside of the business. This serves as the main driving force behind continued building. He reiterates that it is crucial to wait, consider, and list the pros and cons while developing, Asthana acknowledges the simplicity of creating software but advises founders to focus on product development rather than being consumed by operational aspects. “Software is much simpler to create because it doesn't require a significant initial expenditure. You only need a computer, the internet, free time, and some talent. To top it off, there are a tonne of materials online, some of which are even offered by AWS. Instead of getting so preoccupied with the operational aspects of beginning a business, such as seeking capital, setting up an office, and so forth, founders shouldn’t neglect what is most important at this time–developing the product,” he says. Balancing simplicity and complexity in software When asked how to keep things simple in a commercial world when markets and consumer needs are becoming increasingly complex, Asthana says it is "difficult to achieve." The term "software" in general is as wide as the ocean, with an equally enormous scope for improvement. One may always add new features and submit updates, but this leads to a slew of newer challenges. "Every update or upgrade is a component that must be carefully maintained, and the most difficult aspect is balancing all of the components." He notes the importance of introducing new features and simultaneously removing outdated, ineffective ones. APIs as the next big wave in SaaS APIs have been called the "next big SaaS wave." The software revolution began slowly, but in recent years it has skyrocketed, with the shift to software as a service, or SaaS, becoming the fastest-growing part of data. Asthana adds to this by saying, “Two decades ago, this industry was severely underserved on a global scale, with developers bearing the brunt of this". In actuality, however, APIs serve as the fundamental units of software, and since the early 2000s, developers have yearned for a better developer experience, including tools that make designing, documenting, and testing APIs more streamlined. As opposed to writing raw code, developers spend more time working with APIs. As a result, both tech and non-tech businesses have gone digital. Today he says, “APIs are essential abstractions in important industries including banking, healthcare, retail, and others. All of our aspirations for technology two decades ago have been surpassed by this”. However, the buck doesn’t stop here, more needs to be learned and developed, and Postman will play a crucial part in the expanding API business. Postman’s role in expanding the API business Lastly, Asthana spoke about how Postman is working on building and maturing the API market. “We currently work on two levels, informing leadership of the value of APIs for businesses. We also manage developer relations, a programme that is entirely devoted to developers and provides them with practical tools that they can apply right away in their line of work,” he said. He continued, “A student programme run by Postman links peers and the market with students who are open to using software services. Additionally, a lab is available for testing and simulation. All of this is covered by our curriculum for developer education.” "The second level is the executive education programme, which primarily works on getting executives together to produce educational content in the form of books and white papers,” says Asthana. The rapid growth of SaaS, exemplified by the success of Postman, underscores the transformative power of cloud-based software solutions. APIs have emerged as the critical component of modern software development. All knowledge workers will need an elementary knowledge of API. API embodies knowledge and enables us to use the digital tools at our disposal for efficiency while being informed, obtaining verified, trustworthy information, and staying up-to-date. Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on <a href="mailto:insiderstudios@businessinsider.in">insiderstudios@businessinsider.in</a>

Postman’s APIs to deliver the next wave of innovations: Leading the SaaS revolution from the front along with AWS

<ul><li>The new <keyword id="7567986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-debit" source="Orion">auto-debit</keyword> guidelines for recurring <keyword id="6359540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments" source="Orion">payments</keyword> kicked in from today, October 1.</li><li>“The current <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” said Upekkha’s Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan.</li><li>Industry experts believe that this move will push more SaaS companies to move overseas and chase international clients.</li></ul>The new auto-debit guidelines for<a href="https://businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/what-is-e-mandate-or-upi-autopay-and-how-to-enable-it-for-jio-hotstar-and-others/articleshow/86650600.cms?_ga=2.76036176.459036666.1632714936-227132192.1626769520"> recurring payments</a> kicked in from today, October 1, but the Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry expects this new regulation to have a much deeper impact on their businesses. Before getting into this, it is important to understand what the guidelines really say. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to do away with automatic recurring payments by adding a layer of authentication for transactions. A user will have to manually mandate such transactions every month, dropping the idea of recurring payments altogether. Now where does the <keyword id="11064864" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SaaS-industry" source="Orion">SaaS industry</keyword> come into play? The <keyword id="4360787" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-saas-companies" source="Orion">Indian SaaS companies</keyword> — which are poised to meet a fifth of world’s software demand and pocket a revenue of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/amazon-twitter-hyundai-and-dominos-are-buying-indian-software-fuelling-a-75-billion-dream-chased-by-top-vcs-like-sequoia-and-tiger-global/articleshow/85646116.cms">$75 million in the next four years</a> — are worried that this would lead to default or delayed payments, impacting their revenue. Suresh Sambandam, founder of work management software company Kissflow, in a conversation with Business Insider, explained that any small ticket-size SaaS companies in India — whose payments range between $5 to $500 a month — go through a credit card-enabled payments system that is recurring in nature. The latest step, which adds an additional layer of authentication, is going to introduce default in payments, a lot of paperwork and a lot of human involvement to follow up with customers on past payments. “Earlier it was a smooth transaction and now it's overcomplicated,” he added. Thiyagarajan Maruthavana, partner at Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator, told Business Insider said, “In the last 15 years, while the global SaaS market grew manifold to $200 billion in revenue, the domestic SaaS market failed to take off due to lack of easy collection of recurring payments. Many global SaaS startups and corporations have dialled back their India market plans in the last 5 years due to this issue.” “The current RBI guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” he further added. Both Sambandam and Thiyagarajan reiterated that this move will push more SaaS companies to go after international clients as well as headquarters. “However it does not impact the SaaS industry from India as these Indian SaaS companies had already moved away from serving the domestic market to the global market. The guidelines impact only a handful of SaaS businesses that focus on Indian customers. These companies will now be forced to move their geography focus elsewhere,” Thiyagarajan said. Ankur Bansal, co-founder of BlackSoil Capital, in a previous conversation with Business Insider, had highlighted that SaaS business margins are really high and they are even higher from customers based out of the US or Europe. This is why most SaaS companies — such as Zoho, Freshworks, Postman, MindTickle and others — usually go after clients in international markets. This, in turn, also increases their valuation in the eyes of the investors significantly. These companies, along with many others, do have a portion of their customers coming in from India as well, which is going to get impacted now. The latest move will leave Indian SaaS companies with little reason to actually operate in India. What do other experts have to say? <div type="image" title="India’s new guidelines on recurring payments sends SaaS industry in a turmoil" msid="86679002" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Anand Jain, cofounder and chief strategy officer at CleverTap&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Recurring services don’t need the friction of executing the payment on a recurring basis — that friction makes business, especially SaaS business, tougher… The requirement for banks to provide at least 24 hour notice before a recurring payment is executed also ensures that unnecessary payments or buyers’ guilt are reduced. The only challenge I see is that this will need better help and training by financial institutions for their end users in setup. But India is getting much more savvy with these things.” — Monish Darda, cofounder and chief technology officer at Icertis, said. “These are a matter of habit, for instance, when RBI made 2FA [two-factor authentication] mandatory, we all thought that it would dent online transaction volumes. While there was some inconvenience felt initially, digital transactions (one-time password et al) have grown manifold in recent times and are set to continue to grow. In fact, the safety net provided by these checks and balances will only bring new users to the fold. Having said that, this will [be an] inconvenience [to] merchants and customers both for pre-existing debit mandates, since the card issuers will have to revalidate the mandates now.” — Shishir Mankad, managing partner and head of financial services at management consulting firm, Praxis Global Alliance said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ritesh-agarwal-led-oyo-files-preliminary-papers-for-its-1-2-billion-ipo/articleshow/86674003.cms">Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO files preliminary papers for its $1.2 billion IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/zee-entertainment-falls-nearly-3-in-trade-as-board-refuses-to-hold-egm/articleshow/86678219.cms#:~:text=to%20hold%20EGM-,Zee%20Entertainment%20falls%20nearly%203%25%20in%20trade,board%20refuses%20to%20hold%20EGM&amp;text=Zee%20Entertainment%20has%20declined%20to,board%20to%20consider%20the%20demand.&amp;text=Post%20the%20development%2C%20Zee%20Entertainment's,3%3A30%20p.m.%20on%20Friday.">Zee Entertainment falls nearly 3% in trade as board refuses to hold EGM</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/air-india-gets-a-saviour-in-tata-sons/articleshow/86675842.cms#:~:text=The%20government%20has%20reportedly%20accepted,was%20also%20among%20the%20bidders.">Tata Sons reportedly wins bid to takeover the ‘Maharaja’</a>

New guidelines on recurring payments may send SaaS companies out of India, say experts

New Delhi, The technology industry in <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> reached $253.9 billion in revenue with an addition of $9.3 billion incremental revenue in FY2024 (estimated), growing at 3.8 per cent from FY23, a <keyword id="19955786" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nasscom" source="keywords">Nasscom</keyword> report said on Friday. The technology industry added 60,000 net employees in FY2024 (estimated), with a total headcount of 5.43 million. However, the focus on digital skills continued to remain strong with AI, Cloud, data and cybersecurity emerging as top in-demand skills for the industry, the report noted. The Indian tech services export revenue (excluding hardware) is expected to touch $199 billion in reported currency, a growth of 3.3 per cent compared to FY2023. "We do see FY2025 as the year of capability building as the new normal. Navigating the current challenges will require the industry to focus on 4Rs -- Reshape - accelerate transition to AI-first companies; reskill - make talent the biggest competitive advantage; rewire growth and raise IP creation and R&amp;D investments," said <keyword id="19956660" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="debjani-ghosh" source="keywords">Debjani Ghosh</keyword>, President, Nasscom. The engineering research and development (<keyword id="20612065" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="erd" source="keywords">ER&amp;D</keyword>) sector alone contributed 48 per cent to the total export revenue addition in FY2024. Global Capability Centres or GCCs continue to invest in India, expanding their service portfolios at the same time new GCCs are setting up operations. The industry saw an addition of 53 new GCCs in 2023, the report said. "While headwinds like global economic slowdown, inflation, recessionary fears and geopolitical conflicts continue to pose challenges, we are confident that the industry will bounce back," said <keyword id="20134134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajesh-nambiar" source="keywords">Rajesh Nambiar</keyword>, Chairperson, Nasscom. With digital tech spending expected to grow in 2024, "We will also witness emergence of alternative demand source, customer retention, faster go-to-market strategies in newer markets for enterprises," Nambiar added. With continued investments by the government and enterprises in emerging technologies, India's domestic sector emerged as the great propeller. Focus on application development, automation, verticalised products, software-as-a-service (SaaS), data migration for AI and Cloud enterprise spending are some of the notable drivers to this growth, the report showed. "The industry is committing 60-100 hours per year per employee on upskilling," the findings showed.

Tech industry in India hits $254 bn in revenue in FY24, adds 60K employees

<ul class="summary-list"><li>With its coding capabilities, generative AI is making it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ai-technology-end-of-coding-software-developers-jobs-2023-4">easier to develop software</a>.</li><li>This could disrupt the way software is created, distributed, and used, VCs and startup founders say.</li></ul>While <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">ChatGPT</a> has been wowing the public, behind the scenes investors and technologists are beginning to talk about a deeper disruption to the inner workings of the established software industry.A new potential framework for software, whose earlier iteration was coined <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341553733_Designing_and_Programming_Malleable_Software" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> "malleable software"</a> by researcher Philip Tchernavskij, describes a future where <a href="https://www.geoffreylitt.com/2023/03/25/llm-end-user-programming.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">generative AI and humans work together</a> to customize tooling and even create entire applications.This outcome would flip the traditional software industry on its head, calling into question the value of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/software-as-a-services-explainer">SaaS</a> companies in a world where <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ai-technology-end-of-coding-software-developers-jobs-2023-4">everyday people can build software themselves</a>."No-code was the first step," said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-venture-market-is-surprisingly-rabid-says-investor-2020-8">Matt Turck</a>, a partner at venture capital firm FirstMark. "This is the final chapter of software eating the world, where a bunch of people can create enterprise software within the enterprise."This would represent quite a reversal for the industry. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/saas">Software-as-a-Service</a> companies have been the disruptors for a decade, not the disruptees. They have sky-high valuations because investors are betting their subscription revenue will continue steadily rising for many years to come. If generative AI really catches on, though, that future may look very different.<h2>Democratizing tech creation</h2>Venture capitalists and startup founders have been obsessed with the idea of democratizing tech creation for years, as seen by the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-code-low-code-rising-popularity-amid-remote-work-experts-2020-6">rise of low-code and no-code startups</a> like Airtable, last valued at $11 billion, and Webflow, which landed a $4 billion price tag last year.Some technical knowledge was still required to build most software. Now, though, the emergence of generative AI tools like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/codex-github-copilot-chatgpt-openai-productivity-2023-3">GitHub Copilot</a> has opened up the ability to generate code using just natural language, Ethan Kurzweil, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, told Insider.For Jake Saper, a general partner at Emergence Capital, the use cases that stand to be disrupted first are simple, low-risk tasks and applications in small and midsize businesses. These instances offer the lowest chance of business disruption and require the least cross-company coordination, he said.Vertical software companies taking existing technologies and making them easier to use in antiquated industries could also be under threat of replacement if their value-add is more around convenience versus actual product differentiation, Fika Ventures senior associate James Shecter said.Already, technologists have begun to use generative AI tools like Copilot to build simple apps, including a <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=30c8e0a951bc0b06e06cd5e139d66c203579f067beaae835573ed17dc924f7b8&amp;postID=6467cbbf255dba48ea4393cc&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpulse%2Fi-built-app-github-copilot-heres-result-simona-winnekes%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trivia game</a> and a <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=30c8e0a951bc0b06e06cd5e139d66c203579f067beaae835573ed17dc924f7b8&amp;postID=6467cbbf255dba48ea4393cc&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpulse%2Fi-built-app-github-copilot-heres-result-simona-winnekes%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">site for discounted Amazon items</a>. Some later-stage tech startups are trying to get ahead of the curve by sharing the power of creation with their customers. One example can be found in knowledge base startup Guru's AI writing assistant, which lets customers create their own custom tones of voice using generative AI. This challenges the traditional idea of software as a rigid tool with a fixed set of available actions for users, Guru cofounder and CEO Rick Nucci told Insider."We've talked about 'platforms' in the SaaS world for a long time, the idea that someone can create a set of foundational building blocks that customers can configure and shape to be what they want," he said. "This is a step change that's actually happening."<h2>A new era for software</h2>Some VCs and founders believe that generative AI could not only transform the way we create technology but also the way we interact with it through ultra-personalization.For instance, new generative AI technology could help startups create user interfaces customized to each person's exact preferences, Bessemer partner Talia Goldberg said. Already, ChatGPT is showing early signs of this by choosing to provide certain responses in data table format, even when users don't specifically ask for that, she explained.In more extreme cases, entire tools could be generated by AI on the fly to replace common actions a user takes, CRV principal Brittany Walker said. In the long term, VCs like NEA partner Vanessa Larco and investor Elad Gil believe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-autonomous-artificial-intelligence-agents-silicon-valley-latest-obsession-2023-5">autonomous AI agents</a>, rather than humans, will be the main entities interacting with software. One potential scenario could be a world where individuals have a primary AI agent that coordinates and manages a number of "micro-agents" capable of doing everything from text messaging to scheduling dinner reservations, Larco told Insider.These types of connections and interactions — the technical plumbing that currently makes different software programs work together — is the bread and butter business of many SaaS companies. If generative AI models can do this work automatically, what will happen to these SaaS businesses?<h2>A 'healthy pressure' for traditional SaaS providers</h2>To be sure, the death of the traditional software company still seems a long way off.First, the choice between building software yourself or buying from a third party brings with it a substantial opportunity cost."I don't necessarily want to sit on my computer for 10, 12, 15 hours developing this when I can go and find something that's ready out-of-the-box," CRV's Walker said. "The barrier would need to drop very low for a critical mass of people to start creating their own bespoke software."Additionally, paying an outside software vendor helps people put the burden of safety, maintenance, and accountability onto a third party, Emergence Capital's Saper said.However, even skeptics admit that the threat of generative AI to traditional SaaS will push established software companies to prove their worth. "It'll probably be healthy pressure because the 'build' decision may be more tempting because it'll be theoretically easier to do," Saper said. "It's going to put pressure on software vendors to really deliver value."Got it a tip? Contact Stephanie Palazzolo using a non-work device on encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 979-599-8091), email (spalazzolo@insider.com), or Twitter DM <a href="https://twitter.com/steph_palazzolo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@steph_palazzolo</a>.

Welcome to the final phase of software eating the world. SaaS companies beware, you're on the menu this time.

<ul><li>ukesh Ambani wants to scale <keyword id="58448" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Retail">Reliance Retail</keyword> among the top ten retailers globally.</li><li>Goldman Sachs has valued Reliance Retail at $88 billion and expects it to clock $44 billion in sales by 2025.</li><li>However, the company will continue to be the worst impacted subsidiary of <keyword id="6484187" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ril">RIL</keyword> in Q1 of FY22 due to the pandemic.</li></ul>Reliance Retail continues to be an undisrupted leader in the organised retail segment with a scale that is more than six times the next competitor, <keyword id="6355199" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-industries">Reliance Industries</keyword> chairperson and managing director Mukesh Ambani had said in the company’s 44th Annual General Meeting held last month. One in every eight Indian shops with Reliance Retail, Asia’s richest man added. Now, Ambani has set the target to be among the top ten retailers globally in the coming years. He projected a three fold growth for the retail business in the next three-five years. Even analysts believe that Reliance Retail could be among the biggest growth drivers for <keyword id="45442" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Industries-Limited">Reliance Industries Limited</keyword> in the long run. But the first quarter of the financial year 2022 (FY22) is not going to be a part of this picture. Analysts believe that Reliance Retail is going to face the worst impact of the second wave of COVID-19 that led to lockdown and restrictions across the country. <div type="image" title="Reliance Retail, the cash cow for Mukesh Ambani’s RIL, may be hit by the second wave of the pandemic" msid="84648255" hostid="261"></div> According to global financial services group <keyword id="6354527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nomura">Nomura</keyword>’s report published on July 19, Reliance Retail’s revenue would drop 23% and EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation] would fall another 30% in April-June quarter compared to the last quarter of FY2021 (January to March). The company’s EBITDA margin would be at 7.1%, compared to 7.9% in the fourth quarter of the last financial year, due to lower contribution from fashion and lifestyle, the report added. Reliance Retail had reported a revenue of ₹1,53,818 crore, which is almost a third of Reliance Industries Limited’s ₹5,39,238 crore consolidated revenue. The retail unit reported a post-tax profit of ₹5,481 crore in FY21. The company EBITDA was at an all-time high in the fourth quarter of FY21. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-acquires-us-based-epic-plans-to-invest-1-billion-in-the-north-american-market/articleshow/84612303.cms">BYJU's acquires another American startup, plans to spend $1 billion on US expansion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms">YouTube is testing shopping feature on live streams for select creators</a>

Reliance Retail, the cash cow for Mukesh Ambani’s RIL, may be hit by the second wave of the pandemic

<ul><li>Over 90% of respondents of an O’Reilly study are using cloud computing offerings such as <keyword id="753967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="software-as-a-service" source="Orion">Software-as-a-Service</keyword> (<keyword id="6395918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas" source="Orion">SaaS</keyword>). </li><li>A report from Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) revealed that over 63% of the respondents admit that <keyword id="14371558" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-misconfiguration" source="Orion">SaaS misconfiguration</keyword> is to blame for the surge in security incidents. </li><li>By opting for SSPM solutions, organizations can significantly reduce the time to detect and remediate SaaS misconfigurations.</li></ul>The popularity of Software as-a-Service (SaaS) applications has grown immensely in recent years. COVID-19 spurred the acceleration of SaaS adoption among industries that were traditionally reluctant to embrace SaaS models. However, the increasing adoption of SaaS apps have left many organizations vulnerable to security incidents. To make matters worse, even a slight misconfiguration or inability to secure user permission can open gateways for hackers and fraudsters. Even though Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and security teams are working round the clock to secure organizations’ apps and data, these measures are proving inadequate. <keyword id="11295388" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-security" source="Orion">SaaS Security</keyword>: A rising cause of concern In a recent Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) <a href="https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/artifacts/saas-security-and-misconfigurations-report/">report</a>, 63% of the respondents stated that SaaS misconfiguration can be blamed for the surge in security incidents. According to a 2021 <a href="https://get.oreilly.com/ind_the-cloud-in-2021-adoption-continues.html">study</a> by O’Reilly, 90% of the respondents are using cloud computing offerings such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This is resulting in hundreds of global settings and thousands of customer roles, as well as permissions in configuring, monitoring, and consistent updating. With so many applications running constantly and getting frequent updates, the probability of exploitable misconfigurations has risen significantly. Therefore, organizations must take adequate measures to understand and tackle the complex threat landscape surrounding the SaaS security of the company. Preventing the SaaS misconfiguration A few basic steps that organizations can take to prevent SaaS misconfiguration include: <ul><li>Ensure file sharing configurations in each SaaS application so that sensitive data is not publicly accessible.</li><li>Organizations should ensure that they activate MFA (multi-factor authentication) for all customer applications.</li><li>Organizations should further execute a security protocol for onboarding new applications while limiting user permission in all applications.</li></ul>There are, however, more strategic and advanced methods that organizations currently prefer to secure customers from deceptive apps, misconfiguration and misappropriated user permissions. Some of the comprehensive measures that can be employed by organizations to combat misconfigurations in SaaS applications include: Opting for SSPM Organizations can opt for SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) which takes an automated approach to tracking and remediating the exploitable misconfiguration in SaaS applications of the organization. According to the CSA report mentioned earlier, SSPM solutions can significantly reduce the time taken to detect and remediate SaaS misconfigurations. Additionally, it can also help CISOs and security professionals handle the profound transformation to an extensive SaaS environment. Moreover, it helps them to contain misconfiguration exposures from leading to a leak or breach. Identify loose ends It is paramount for SaaS security that no individual has access to business data without the knowledge and consent of the security team. The task of maintaining control over evolving corporate data has been taking a toll on security professionals. With the incorporation of SaaS applications and hundreds of configurations, the challenges will be exacerbated. Therefore, organizations should locate all publicly accessible resources such as discussions, forms, dashboards and other data components. If the security teams find any flaws, they should quickly address them to avoid a data breach and take the required precautionary measures to keep control over the data of the organization. Addressing the configuration drift With SaaS having multiple settings and configurations at a given time, it is easy to understand that configuration drift can take place. Configuration drift occurs when the SaaS application configuration is not aligned with the initial, defined configuration. While it is not an uncommon thing, when kept unresolved, configuration drift can give rise to security vulnerabilities. Configuration drift often occurs when hardware or software modifications are pushed to the enterprise infrastructure but not aligned in the configuration setting of an app. Although this phenomenon is unavoidable, regular configuration review can minimize the impact of drift and ensure the configuration settings align with the initially defined configuration. Creating a Disaster recovery plan All of the SaaS platforms or applications have built-in security features and configurations that should be correctly configured to provide adequate security for their data and networks. At the same time, organizations should also have a disaster recovery plan to imitate services and data that could get lost if disaster strikes. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/in-the-battle-between-ai-metaverse-ceos-choose-ai/articleshow/92674686.cms">In the battle between AI &amp; Metaverse, CEOs choose AI</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/spicejet-flight-makes-an-emergency-landing-again-sixth-incident-in-3-months/articleshow/92673272.cms">SpiceJet flight makes an emergency landing again – sixth incident in 3 months</a>

SaaS adoption rises, so do the security risks. Here are ways to counter them

Total funding raised by <keyword id="17404081" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mom-and-baby-care-startups" source="Orion">mom and baby care startups</keyword> and companies was $418 million in 2022, a plunge of 80 per cent from $2.1 billion in 2021, a report has shown. <keyword id="17404082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mom-Baby-Care-companies" source="Orion">Mom &amp; Baby Care companies</keyword> in the US have raised $5 billion till date, while those in China and India raised $2.8 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively, according to Tracxn, a leading global SaaS-based market intelligence platform. The drop in funding is majorly due to the absence of late-stage investments. Seed-stage funding in Q1 2023 fell 21 per cent as against Q1 2022 but jumped 444 per cent from Q4 2022. Early-stage investments in the first quarter of 2023 rose 158 per cent when compared with Q4 2022, but dropped 64 per cent from Q1 2022, the report noted. The sector attracted investments worth $21 million in Q1 2023, compared with $3.86 million in Q4 2022 and $26.5 million in Q1 2022. "The space is seeing minimal or no activity in terms of unicorns and IPOs. In 2022 and 2023 till date, no new unicorn companies were created in this space," the report mentioned. No IPOs have taken place in 2023 so far, while 2022 witnessed one company and 2021 witnessed two companies going public. In terms of funding, <keyword id="17404084" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gamified-learning-platforms" source="Orion">Gamified learning platforms</keyword> for Pre-K children is the top-funded business model in the last two years in this space, followed by Online Retailers and Breast Pumps. 500 Global, Techstars and New Enterprise Associates are the most active investors in this space till date. IPV, Angel List and Techstars are the top seed-stage investors and Innoven Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital are the top early-stage investors, while Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic and IPGL are the top late-stage investors in the last two years. The pandemic accelerated the growth of the Mom &amp; Baby Care space, giving rise to innovation in this segment. The rise in the working class population with a higher disposable income, is also a supporting factor for growth in this space, said the Tracxn report. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tata-motors-posts-net-profit-of-5408-crore-in-q4-beats-estimates/articleshow/100189259.cms">Tata Motors posts net profit of ₹5,408 crore in Q4, beats estimates</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-hindenburg-row-sc-hints-at-granting-sebi-extension-on-probe-report-to-decide-on-may-15/articleshow/100185994.cms">Adani-Hindenburg row: SC hints at granting SEBI extension on probe report, to decide on May 15</a>

You Searched For "SaaS industry" and got 10 results

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Welcome to the final phase of software eating the world. SaaS companies beware, you're on the menu this time.

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Reliance Retail, the cash cow for Mukesh Ambani’s RIL, may be hit by the second wave of the pandemic

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SaaS adoption rises, so do the security risks. Here are ways to counter them

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Funding into mom & baby care companies plunges 80%, no new unicorns

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