The conversation around AI replacing jobs is no longer limited to factory work or customer support. It is now reaching the core of the tech industry itself. A startup founder is openly saying that traditional software companies will not survive the next few years if they fail to adapt, and her own company is already working in a very different way.
Tatyana Mamut, CEO and co-founder of Wayfound.ai, has made a bold claim that the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model could disappear within five years. Instead of relying on large teams and traditional tools, she believes companies should move towards AI agents or use tools like Claude that can handle most of the work.
Wayfound uses Claude AI to handle most of its coding work
Mamut’s views are not just theory. She told Business Insider that her company has already reduced its reliance on engineers in the usual sense. Instead of writing code line by line, her engineers now act more like managers who oversee AI systems doing the actual work. These AI tools, especially Claude Code, have become central to how the company builds products.
According to Mamut, this change has made a small team extremely efficient. “The two engineers ship more features than my team at Amazon in 2017,” she said, referring to her earlier role at Amazon Web Services, where she managed teams of over 30 engineers. What once took weeks can now be done much faster with the help of AI agents.
The change at Wayfound began in 2024, when engineers started experimenting with tools like ChatGPT. As newer platforms such as Claude Code, Vercel, and Cursor became available, the team tested them and gradually made them a core part of their workflow. Over time, AI systems took over tasks like writing code, testing it, and even suggesting improvements.
This has also changed how work is organised inside the company. Instead of long planning cycles and multiple layers of management, the team now holds short meetings twice a week. In these sessions, they decide what needs to be built based on customer needs. Engineers then pass these requirements to AI tools, which generate the code and handle much of the execution.
Mamut says this approach has removed many of the delays and complications that come with large teams. There are fewer back-and-forth discussions, fewer conflicts, and much faster delivery. Engineers are also spending more time talking directly to customers instead of sitting in front of screens all day.
Interestingly, she believes the role of an engineer itself is changing. At Wayfound, employees are no longer limited to coding. They are involved in product decisions, design discussions, and customer interactions. Mamut describes this evolving role as a “builder” — someone who handles multiple responsibilities that were earlier divided across teams.
At the same time, she warns that relying on AI without proper oversight can backfire. She refers to this risk as “agent slop,” where poorly managed AI systems can create errors and inefficiencies. According to her, companies cannot simply deploy AI and step away. Continuous monitoring and improvement are necessary to make these systems useful.
SaaS companies will be dead in five years, Wayfound CEO says
Beyond her own company, Mamut has strong views about the future of the SaaS industry. She argues that traditional software companies may struggle if they continue with their existing models. Firms like Salesforce, Atlassian, and Workday are already facing pressure as investors worry about the impact of AI.
Mamut believes these companies need to transform themselves into “agentic” platforms — systems built around AI agents rather than fixed software tools. If they fail to do so, she warns, they “will be dead in five years.”
One of the reasons behind this potential change is cost. Companies are under pressure to reduce expenses and are cutting hiring to free up budgets for AI investments. At the same time, businesses are becoming hesitant to commit to long-term software contracts, as they are unsure how their needs will evolve in an AI-driven environment.
Mamut says human engineers will remain safe from AI in 3 roles
Despite her strong push for AI, Mamut does not believe humans will become irrelevant. She says people will continue to play an important role in managing AI systems, building relationships with customers, and making strategic decisions.
“People want to buy from other people,” she said, adding that trust and human connection will still matter even in an AI-first world.
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