What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff rejected the idea that artificial intelligence will make software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications obsolete. The argument came during Salesforce’s fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings call—not calendar Q2—after the company reported $10.2 billion in quarterly revenue and outlined its push to sell AI agents alongside its existing software. The results show a large, profitable SaaS business with early AI traction; they do not settle whether AI will eventually reduce software seats, weaken subscription pricing, or shift value to new competitors.
Timing: Salesforce’s Q2 FY2026 ran through July 31, 2025, and results were announced September 3, 2025. Benioff’s comments were part of the earnings-call discussion, not a separate product announcement. The figures below are Salesforce-reported results and metrics.
Salesforce Q2 FY2026 results at a glance
| Metric | Q2 FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Total revenue | $10.2 billion, up 10% year over year |
| Subscription and support revenue | $9.7 billion, up 11% |
| Current remaining performance obligation (cRPO) | $29.4 billion, up 11% |
| GAAP operating margin | 22.8% |
| Non-GAAP operating margin | 34.3% |
| Returned to shareholders | $2.6 billion |
| Share repurchases / dividends | $2.2 billion / $399 million |
Salesforce’s earnings release reported that Q3 FY2026 revenue was expected to be $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, representing 8% to 9% year-over-year growth. The company also raised the low end of its full-year revenue forecast to $41.1 billion, giving a range of $41.1 billion to $41.3 billion. It forecast a 34.1% full-year non-GAAP operating margin and operating-cash-flow growth of approximately 12% to 13%.
The revenue and subscription figures indicate that Salesforce’s core business remained substantial and growing in that quarter. cRPO is contracted revenue expected to be recognized over the next 12 months, so its growth offers a view of near-term committed demand—not a guarantee of future results. Margins and shareholder returns also show management’s emphasis on profitability and capital returns alongside AI investment. None of these figures alone proves that AI is accelerating Salesforce’s long-term growth.
#1 Best Overall
What Benioff meant by calling the claim “nonsense”
Benioff was pushing back against the strongest version of the “SaaS is ending” argument: that AI models or agents will make enterprise applications themselves unnecessary. His view, as presented on the earnings call, is that large language models can be combined with enterprise applications so people and software agents share work. Salesforce calls this vision the “agentic enterprise.”
That is also a defense of Salesforce’s own strategy. The company is presenting its CRM applications, data products, and Agentforce AI agents as parts of one platform. Benioff’s argument should therefore be read as a CEO’s strategic thesis, not as a neutral verdict on every software category.
“The end of SaaS” can mean several different things, and they have different implications:
Recommended Free Tools
- Interfaces change: Users may ask an agent to complete work rather than navigate application screens.
- Software is built differently: Some companies may create custom agents and workflows instead of buying packaged products.
- Functions consolidate: A general-purpose model or a broader platform might absorb tasks now handled by separate applications.
- Pricing shifts: Vendors may charge for usage, completed tasks, or outcomes rather than primarily for each employee seat.
- Seat demand falls: If agents handle routine work, a company may need fewer paid user licenses even if it keeps the underlying software.
Benioff’s rebuttal is most persuasive against the claim that all enterprise software disappears. It does not disprove the possibility that AI changes who uses an application, how much customers pay, or which vendors capture the value.
Why an AI agent may still depend on SaaS
An agent can make an application’s interface less central without making the application’s underlying capabilities redundant. Large organizations need durable systems for customer, account, case, employee, and transaction records. They also need software that executes business rules and workflows: approvals, routing, compliance steps, service processes, and other actions.
For an agent to act safely, it must operate within permissions, access appropriate data, and leave records that people can inspect. It may also need to connect to identity systems, finance or ERP software, communications tools, warehouses, and external services. Reliability, monitoring, support, customization, and accountability matter when a workflow is business-critical.
These are reasons an established software platform could become more useful as agents take on work. They are not proof that every incumbent will benefit. A business could keep Salesforce as its system of record while using an outside agent as its main interface; a customer could also adopt agents from several suppliers and reduce the incumbent’s control over the experience. In that case, the platform might survive while its pricing power or share of customer attention declines.
PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWhat Salesforce’s Agentforce figures do—and do not—show
Salesforce reported several signs of demand in Q2 FY2026:
- More than 12,500 Agentforce deals since launch, including more than 6,000 paid deals.
- More than $1.2 billion in Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue (ARR), up 120% year over year.
- More than 40% of Q2 Data Cloud and Agentforce bookings came from expansion by existing customers.
- More than 60 deals worth over $1 million included both Data Cloud and AI.
- Agentforce handled more than 1.4 million requests on Salesforce’s own help site.
These are company disclosures, not independent measurements of customer outcomes. A signed deal is not necessarily a broad production deployment; a paid deal does not establish how much recurring revenue it contributes. Usage volume does not by itself show that requests were resolved correctly, saved customers money, or replaced other spending. ARR is a recurring-revenue measure, but the combined Data Cloud and AI figure does not isolate Agentforce’s contribution or prove that the spending is incremental rather than partly protecting or expanding existing contracts.
Salesforce later disclosed that combined agentic AI ARR for Q2 was approximately $440 million in a subsequent company announcement. That narrower figure is useful context alongside the broader Data Cloud and AI ARR metric, but it is still a vendor-reported figure and does not by itself establish customer ROI or the long-run economics of the product.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The risks behind the “SaaS survives” case
AI could preserve the software platform while still disrupting its economics. If agents reduce the number of employees who need application access, seat-based revenue may come under pressure. AI-native competitors may automate a narrow workflow with less implementation overhead, while companies with capable engineering and data teams may build agents themselves. Model providers could also absorb more application functionality.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Pricing is another uncertainty. Charges based on requests, tokens, tasks, or outcomes may align more closely with delivered work, but they can make costs less predictable than per-seat subscriptions. Vendors may also face higher computing, support, and implementation expenses before AI products generate durable profits. Customers may hesitate to delegate work when an agent can produce inaccurate output, expose data, take an unauthorized action, or make it hard to determine who is responsible for an error.
Best Value
Those risks become more concrete as agents move from suggestions to action. A production system needs appropriate permissions, testing, monitoring, audit trails, human escalation, and ways to reverse or contain mistakes. It must also account for prompt injection through messages or documents, conflicting actions across multiple agents, and unclear handoffs to people. A paid pilot is not the same as a reliable, scaled workflow.
What investors and customers should watch next
For investors, the key question is whether AI adds revenue and durable customer value without eroding the core business. Useful indicators include subscription growth, cRPO, AI ARR, conversion from paid deals to production deployments, customer retention and expansion, margins, and evidence that AI bookings are incremental. Seat trends and changes in pricing will matter too: a platform can remain important even if the number of paid users or revenue per workflow changes.
For customers evaluating agents, the headline deal count matters less than whether an agent can perform a defined task accurately and safely at a predictable cost. Assess the data it can reach, its permissions, auditability, escalation path, integration needs, ability to reverse actions, and how usage is billed. Begin with workflows where errors can be caught and corrected; retain human approval where the consequences of an incorrect action are significant.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The balanced reading of Salesforce’s quarter is that the company was not showing signs of an immediate collapse in its SaaS business: revenue, subscription revenue, and cRPO were growing, and management issued higher full-year guidance. Its AI figures also showed reported commercial activity. But one quarter and one company’s deal metrics cannot resolve the larger debate. Benioff may be right that enterprise software persists as the data, permissions, and workflow foundation for agents. The more difficult question is whether Salesforce and other incumbents can retain the interface, seats, pricing power, and economics as agents take on more of the work.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
