- Oracle thinks AI will change how we use software, but we’ll still use software for years to come
- Agents will interact with structured software, humans will manage those agents
- Overall software revenue dropped 3% but cloud revenue rose 60%
Oracle co-CEO Mike Sicilia just declared on the company’s first earnings call of fiscal 2027 that “AI is an accelerator, not a replacement for packaged applications,” hitting back against the SaaSpocalypse argument that warns AI could replace traditional software as we know it today.
Central to his argument is that enterprise suites offer standardized, end-to-end processes and rules that AI can’t replace. But that’s not to say that AI won’t have its role in software going forward.
Sicilia admitted that employee training and upskilling has long been a drawback for many software packages, and that’s where companies like Oracle could actually lean on artificial intelligence to improve things.
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AI isn’t going to replace software, Oracle says
With AI, employees no longer need to navigate so many complicated apps themselves, and AI agents can carry out tasks using the company’s existing workflows and business rules. Humans will likely move over to supervisory roles, Oracle predicts.
“AI changes this dynamic,” Sicilia said, noting that agentic AI could drastically reduce the time and cost involved with deploying enterprise applications.
“We are incredibly confident in the potential for this new paradigm to deliver much more rapid ROI for our customers,” he added. The company is slated to add a new agentic AI accelerator to automate parts of SaaS implementation as soon as next month.
But the company isn’t without its own challenges when it comes to AI and software. Despite a 10% rise in quarterly SaaS revenue, overall software revenue dropped 3%. Cloud revenue, which includes the company’s infrastructure and AI capacity, grew a considerable 60%.
Looking ahead, Oracle’s standpoint is that AI may change software interfaces, but it won’t actually replace the software that lies beneath.
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