Video · 2026-07-07 · 1h 1m · 6 moments

The New Rules of Enterprise Software with Steven Sinofsky

✦ AI generated

timeline · colored by role

Claim◆

The data, logic, and everything stored below the UI is where the real value lies — not just the workflow software being tracked at the top.

Sema explains that in an agentic world, the UI becomes optional because agents access software via APIs, making the underlying data and logic the true source of value.

transcript

Sema Amble: traditional software had been built around humans accessing it and um it was workflow to capture data and we could talk more about what that meant in an agentic world do you do you actually need that the UI doesn't matter matter because the agent isn't accessing the software via the UI. We could unpack whether the UI matters or not. But in the idea of the being headless is the the data, the logic, everything stored below it is really where the value is, not just the workflow software that's being tracked at the top.

explains mechanism · 1extends · 1supports · 1

Claim

You cannot simply replace SAP with a Postgres database and APIs — the business logic captured in SAP is far more important than where the data happens to be stored.

Sema argues that the misconception that SAP can be easily replaced ignores the critical business logic and customization embedded in the software over years.

transcript

Sema Amble: Misconception right now is that you can just have you know Postgress database and APIs and then bam like you can replace SAP. That's like absolutely not true. I think partly I mean Stephen I don't know if you want to elaborate on or not I'm happy to but I think it's that piece around the logic and everything else that is encaptured in SAP is way way more important than the fact that like oh this data just happens to be in this database.

provides context · 1

Anecdote

There is a wild underestimation that you could 'vibe code' your way into enterprise software — the complexity of business logic, organizational processes, and ongoing maintenance cannot be glossed over.

Sema and Sinofsky argue that enterprise software is fundamentally different from consumer software in its complexity — customization, business rules, organizational lines, and long-term maintenance make it impossible to replace with simple API-plus-database approaches.

transcript

Sema Amble: there's this wild underestimation about like you could vibe code your way into enterprise software. I uh was at a dinner last night and there was someone there who um was like the head of revops at a I don't know maybe growth stage startup and his task this is like a thousand plus person company was to rebuild their Salesforce instance internally and you know I think he's like oh well you know we know all the fields we can import all the data and I was like that's not really the part that's tough right it's well how are you deciding what like what gets captured how the whole organizational lines around it. Uh, and then who's going to maintain this also over time.

rebuts · 1supports · 2

Claim

Almost everything interesting in an enterprise is an exception — the core challenge for agents is handling exceptions that are undocumented and context-dependent.

Sinofsky and Sema discuss how enterprise work revolves around exceptions — cases that fall outside standard procedures — and that these are rarely captured in software, making them the hardest problem for agents to solve.

transcript

Steven Sinofsky: I think that this notion of exception handling is just the root of the challenge with with agents, which is almost everything interesting in an enterprise is an exception. ... everything about automation in enterprise is handling exceptions. It it just is. It's the strangest thing like but you know enterprise pricing is a great example like how much is it per seat? Well, you have to call us. Well, you call then you talk and then it's still an exception.

rebuts · 1

Mechanism◆

The minute you automate the most mundane thing and think you have it all squared away, whole new things appear — productivity drives new scenarios.

Sinofsky explains that productivity gains from automation don't shrink the long tail of work — they create new scenarios and analysis layers that didn't previously exist.

transcript

Steven Sinofsky: the minute that you can get something easier with automation and you can actually automate it, which I do think is happening right now with agents and with with language models, well then we're going to dream up a whole bunch of new stuff to do. Like I I just mentioned this this loop that Amazon must be in on customer service. Well, they got rid of all the phone people... they've fixed that level of productivity, but now there's this backend that's just out there constantly figuring out how to have it not happen again. And that now they need a new level of analysis, a new set of tools. And the long tail got no shorter. It just got longer in a different way.

Prediction

The biggest opportunity for startups is to position themselves between two established enterprise players rather than competing head-on, because incumbents won't disturb their existing product lines during a technology shift.

Sinofsky argues that incumbents will only bolt AI onto existing products, leaving a gap between categories where startups can build new solutions without being measured against legacy feature checklists.

transcript

Steven Sinofsky: The biggest opportunity right now is always always to look at the existing uh sort of mental map of enterprise categories and be in between two established players because the thing that you know right now during a massive technology shift is the one thing that established players won't do is disturb their existing product line and go to market. So they absolutely will just be bolting AI on top of their existing product. ... your opportunity in a startup is to just look at two big players who are bolting AI onto the side and exposing some existing API as an agent or whatever and just aim for the middle and do things in in the new way.

Highlight slides

UI Becomes Optional in Agentic Software✦ from: The data, logic, and everything stored below the UI is where the real value lies — not just the workflow software being tracked at the top.Value Lies Below the UI✦ from: The data, logic, and everything stored below the UI is where the real value lies — not just the workflow software being tracked at the top.Productivity Gains Lengthen the Tail of Work✦ from: The minute you automate the most mundane thing and think you have it all squared away, whole new things appear — productivity drives new scenarios.Amazon Customer Service Loop as Example✦ from: The minute you automate the most mundane thing and think you have it all squared away, whole new things appear — productivity drives new scenarios.LLM Agents Will Repeat the Pattern✦ from: The minute you automate the most mundane thing and think you have it all squared away, whole new things appear — productivity drives new scenarios.

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