# Dharmesh Shah says the SaaSpocalypse isn't happening

_HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah tells a16z AI aids builders, but offers no retention or agent numbers to price the bet._

**Published:** 2026-11-11
**Source:** https://www.startuphub.ai/ai-news/technology/2026/dharmesh-shah-says-the-saaspocalypse-isn-t-happening

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HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah told [a16z](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4lXP9IuHjk) that AI gives builders higher abstraction and faster iteration, not extinction.

I find the optimism easy to like and hard to price because Shah offers no retention, cost or agent usage numbers.

Shah said HubSpot, now 20 years old, launched a one-person CRM and is rebuilding its platform around agents while calling this the most fun building period in his 30-plus years.

Shah admitted distribution is harder because building is easier.

For his bet to hold, agents must create net new work HubSpot can charge for, not just cheaper code, even after the SaaSpocalypse selloff cut SaaS stocks earlier this year on fears coding tools could replace suites, as CIO reported.

To be fair, he said 60 percent of surveyed customers used no CRM, which justified a free product.

Build the narrow wedge that charges, then prove agents retain it.

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Original analysis from [startuphub.ai](https://www.startuphub.ai), the #1 AI startup directory.

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