SaaStr 835: AI + B2B in 2026: Find the Tailwinds or Get Left Behind with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
episode
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors
56 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 15 days ago
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Why is 2025‑2026 a critical year for B2B SaaS growth?
Welcome to the official Saster Podcast where you can hear some of the best Saster speakers. This is where the cloud meets. Up today on the Saster Podcast. Frankly, if you didn't accelerate growth at all, you'd get a D. Because you had a year. You had a year. I I give everyone a pass for last year. I give everyone a big pass for 2023. All these tools were kind of terrible in AI. No one gets a pass this year. You saw it coming, you saw it changing, you saw these enginec tools getting better. If you didn't re-accelerate and you weren't in market with a great agent, a great agentic product this year, you get a D minus, but you don't get an F because you got through the year. But you can't get a D next year. It's you're late.
So this is your job to go find it, right? Find the tail ones.
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Hey everybody, Saster Annual will be back May 2026, the world's largest SaaS and AI gathering for executives. Just as last May, we hosted 10,000 attendees with 68 VP level and above attendees, 36% CEOs and founders, and 25% were AI first professionals. It's the very best of S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to Saster Annual and AI Summit each and every year. But here's the reality. folks. The longer you wait, the higher ticket prices get. They're cheap now. They're cheap. So just get them. Early block in your spot today. Use my code Jason 100 for exclusive savings. Get your tickets at podcast.sasterannual.com or just use code Jason 100 when you check out. See you there. Saster annual and AI Summit 2026.
It will rock. The the theme of this session, so much of what we've done has been tactical. This will be tactical in a different way is what's your job for next year? And I think a lot of folks that have already been here today and yesterday have come out and my job is to bring back a couple of agents next year. My job is to automate the GTM. My job is to move faster. and use these tools and that's all great and the rest of the year our whole theme will be very tactical. How do the tools work? What works? What are the blockers? But I think the most important thing Strategically, for folks here, if you have not ex re-accelerated or accelerated this year, is you've got to find your tailwinds. You've got to find your tailwinds.
And I'm going to walk you through this in the next slide. That we're almost in a time of a paradox. We are in a time of an almost paradox in 26. Some things are much easier and certainly much faster than just 18. months ago, some things are harder. And I want to walk through why that's confusing when you dig into trends, dig into data and dig in what's happening. And I'm gonna I want to spend 25 minutes or so walking through what's really happening from buying to funding to VC and more. But your job is to grab some of this AI mojo if you don't have it. We're not all clay or artisan or uh anthropic or gamma and that's okay. But there is budget out there and there is incredible demand. And even if you're not seeing the demand for your own product, you can feel your own demand for other vendors.
There is budget there, and your job is to freaking get it, to attach to those heads. Headwinds for real. I'm sorry, the tailwinds for real, not battle the headwinds, not battle people that don't want to buy your product anymore because it's not AI native or doesn't do what you want. Your job is to radically increase the functionality of your product so you can tap into the what buyers want to buy right now, not what they wanted to buy in 2023, let alone 2021. That's your job. Your job is to find these tailwinds because they're there, but it's not obvious.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is 2025‑2026 a critical year for B2B SaaS growth?
0:01–9:46
2
What does the VC funding concentration look like and why does it matter?
9:46–14:57
3
How can founders identify and capture the AI‑driven tailwinds?
14:57–20:19
4
Where is the new AI budget coming from and how should companies tap it?
20:19–25:42
5
Which AI product categories actually unlock new budget and why do some fail?
25:42–31:57
6
What efficiency metrics should founders track to stay competitive in 2026?
31:57–37:01
7
Why aren’t AI copilot features enough to win market share?
37:01–41:35
8
What actionable steps should B2B leaders take now to avoid a D‑grade in 2026?
41:35–56:25
Speakers
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