Is SaaS really dead? Dharmesh Shah from HubSpot on AI, Vibe-Coding & the Future of Work

About this episode

Dharmesh Shah discusses the future of SaaS in the context of AI and organizational culture.

Is SaaS about to be replaced by people “vibe-coding” their own apps — or is something deeper at stake? Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO of HubSpot, joins Wade to cut through the hype and give a refreshingly practical view of how companies should show up for AI. Dharmesh argues the right question isn’t “How do I compete against AI?” but “How do I compete with AI?” — and explains how culture, curiosity, and a little bit of tinkering unlock real value. From practical starting points for SMBs, to why large SaaS vendors still have a massive advantage, to the power of simulation and retrieval-augmented workflows, this episode maps out what leaders and teams should actually do next. In this episode you’ll hear: Why “compete with AI” beats “compete against AI.” The rituals that help organizations adopt AI (hackathons, demos, and scheduled retries). Low-risk starting points: creation → synthesis → automation → simulation. Why large SaaS companies likely aren’t going extinct — and when vibe-coding does make sense. How AI can amplify careers: automate the small stuff, get promoted to bigger problems. Practical ideas for marketing, personalization, and building dynamic UIs that fade into…

People in this episode

Host: Wade Foster

Guest: Dharmesh Shah

Topics covered

• SaaS
• AI
• vibe-coding
• future of work
• organizational culture
• automation

Keywords

• SaaS
• AI
• vibe-coding
• automation
• organizational culture
• HubSpot
• future of work

Sponsors

Zapier

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HubSpot

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