There are plenty of unresolved questions about what part today's leading software products will play if AI reshapes working life as profoundly as many in the tech world expect. But at least the worst of the indiscriminate selling of software stocks — a bloodbath known as the SaaS-pocalypse — appears finally to have run its course. The latest sign of the relief rally was Thursday's 20 per cent share price jump that greeted Salesforce's quarterly earnings report, extending the rebound since the stock hit a low point in June to around 65 per cent. Chief executive Marc Benioff has been declaring the SaaS-pocalypse over almost from the moment it started.

Software investors could also take heart from comments made by Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. The company's release early this year of AI tools aimed at replacing some traditional software products triggered the worst of the sell-off. "We are not interested in destroying anyone," Amodei declared on CNBC. One realisation is that some software companies are less prone to immediate disruption from AI, particularly if they hold data representing the "ground truth" — so-called systems of record.

For general-purpose tools, the SaaS-pocalypse is still in full swing. That includes Airtable, sold for around a fifth of its peak value, and Medallia, which left private equity owner Thoma Bravo nursing a $5bn loss.

The longer-term challenge is "headless" software — products stripped of user interfaces, allowing AI agents to access data directly. Salesforce declared it would go headless in April, while Workday and SAP followed with partial moves.