Software platform leaders feared losing customers to artificial intelligence competitors, with 57% expressing concern in a survey published on Oct. 19 by Stripe, which sells payments and financial services.
Competition is intensifying as AI makes software faster and cheaper to build, Stripe said in its blog publication, “Stripe survey: Four trends reshaping how SaaS platforms compete in the AI era”. The company said new platform businesses on Stripe increased more than 180% from a year earlier.
Stripe surveyed 200 executives and directors at software-as-a-service platforms, which provide software through online subscriptions, across North America and Europe in March 2026. Half used Stripe, and the sample was evenly split between platforms serving specific industries and those serving businesses across industries, the company said.
AI adoption extended across product development and internal operations, the survey found. Over the preceding 12 months, 81% of respondents had used AI to speed up research and development, while 79% had added AI features to existing products, Stripe said.
Another 58% were rebuilding workflows around agents, software that performs tasks, while 45% said AI investments had reduced operating costs, the company said. At Granum, agents helped support staff handle 23% more tickets and onboarding specialists serve 34% more customers, Stripe said.
Pricing was also changing as platforms sought to cover the costs of running AI, the company said. Some 44% planned multiple pricing changes over the following 12 months, the survey found.
The share expecting charges for each user to remain their main pricing model fell to 11% for 2027 from 16% for 2026, Stripe said. Among platforms serving multiple industries, 7% expected that model to remain primary in 2027, compared with 14% of industry-specific platforms, the company said.
Per-user charges would nevertheless remain part of the mix, Stripe said. One-quarter planned to retain those fees while charging separately for agent work through credits, usage or results, and another 7% planned a base fee plus a licence for each agent, the survey found.
Expected revenue sources differed sharply by customer group, the authors found. Among cross-industry platforms serving midsize and large businesses, 3% expected financial services built into their software to generate the largest revenue share in 2027, compared with 34% of industry-specific platforms serving microbusinesses and small businesses.
Usage-based and combined pricing models showed the reverse pattern, Stripe said. Some 60% of the cross-industry group expected those models to lead revenue, compared with 22% of the industry-specific group, the survey found.
Financial services also figured in customer retention plans, Stripe said. Some 60% considered them very important or essential to retaining customers over the following 24 months, while more than half named proprietary transaction data as a top competitive advantage, the survey found.
Integrating payments and other financial services can deepen customer relationships and make platforms harder to replace, the authors said. They said payments data could also help platforms offer financing and let customers manage more finances within their software.
