At SaaStr's packed AI Summit 2025, Box CEO Aaron Levie and IBM VP of AI Raj Datta did a deep dive together with SaaStr's Jason Lemkin on how B2B companies should think about AI agents. With 10,000 attendees—a massive jump from last year—the energy around AI agents was electric.
Here are the top 10 learnings from their convo:
1. AI Agents Represent a Fundamental Shift from Software to Digital Labor
The Key Insight: We've moved beyond chat interfaces to AI that actually performs work autonomously.
Levie explained the evolution: "We've had AI models for five-plus years. Then we had assistants like ChatGPT. But now we're seeing agents that fundamentally go do work for you—and that work could take a minute, an hour, or 100 hours for the agent."
For B2B companies, this changes everything. Instead of selling software to 10 lawyers in a company, you're now selling "infinite legal capacity." IBM proved this works at scale, saving $3.5 billion internally through AI agents handling HR and procurement functions.
Takeaway: Start thinking about your software as digital labor, not just tools. What work can your AI agents do autonomously for customers?
2. Your Customer Data Is Your Biggest Competitive Advantage
The Key Insight: The companies with the richest, most proprietary datasets will win in the AI agent era.
"What data are you sitting on that is proprietary to you?" Levie asked. "Very quickly you realize more companies are actually in the data business than they initially thought."
Box exemplifies this perfectly. Customers who've stored documents for years can now ask complex queries like "Tell me everything where I have the wrong indemnity provision" or "What contracts I shouldn't have signed." This transforms static data into dynamic business intelligence.
Takeaway: Audit your proprietary data assets. What unique insights could AI agents extract that your competitors can't replicate?
3. Enterprise AI Adoption Is Happening 1000x Faster Than Cloud
The Key Insight: Unlike cloud adoption, which took over a decade, AI is being embraced immediately by enterprises.
"It's going 1000x faster than cloud adoption because everyone's using it," Datta noted. While pitching cloud to banks in 2008-2009 was a "non-starter," today there isn't an enterprise that doesn't already have an AI strategy in development.
The speed difference is staggering: ChatGPT reached 500 million users in roughly two years—faster than any technology in history.
Takeaway: Your enterprise customers are ready to buy AI solutions now. The question isn't if they'll adopt AI, but which vendor they'll choose.
4. IBM's Agent Catalog Could Revolutionize B2B Distribution
The Key Insight: Even small B2B startups can now access enterprise sales channels through IBM's new agent marketplace.
"Even if you're a five-person shop, you submit your AI agent to our catalog, and IBM sellers are able to sell it for you," Datta explained. This democratizes enterprise sales in unprecedented ways.
IBM's massive sales force essentially becomes the distribution channel for thousands of specialized AI agents, potentially creating the "App Store moment" for enterprise software.
Takeaway: Explore partnerships with larger platforms that could distribute your AI agents. Distribution partnerships may be more valuable than ever.
5. The Next Generation Will Completely Reshape B2B Work
The Key Insight: AI-native workers entering the workforce will challenge every existing business process.
A Stanford student approached the moderator saying "20% of my class has already dropped out to do AI" after building an AI sales agent that reached $2 million ARR in months.
Levie predicted: "They're going to come into our enterprises and say, 'You take 2 weeks to come up with a marketing plan? That was just generated by Claude in 5 seconds. Why would you meet about that?'"
Takeaway: Prepare for a workforce that expects AI-first processes. Your internal tools and customer solutions need to match this expectation.
6. Data Assets May Soon Appear on Corporate Balance Sheets
The Key Insight: We're heading toward a fundamental revaluation of what makes B2B companies valuable.
"Right now there's nothing on a company's balance sheet that approximates the value of their data," Levie observed. "In 10 years, will we see 'how good is your data?' emerge as a measurable business asset?"
This suggests enterprise valuation models will need to account for data quality, uniqueness, and AI-readiness.
Takeaway: Start thinking about your data as a balance sheet asset. Clean, organized, proprietary data will become increasingly valuable.
7. You Have a 2-Year Window to Win or Lose Everything
The Key Insight: The AI transition window is much shorter than cloud, creating extreme risk and opportunity.
"You could lose your entire position probably in a 2-year period," Levie warned, "but it's also where you could cement your leadership position in a very unique way."
Unlike cloud, where companies had years to decide, AI advantages will compound quickly. The winners will get locked in fast.
Takeaway: Move aggressively now. Waiting 6-12 months could mean losing your market position permanently.
8. Model Context Protocol (MCP) Strengthens Rather Than Threatens Moats
The Key Insight: Making your data more accessible actually increases customer stickiness.
When questioned about whether MCP would weaken competitive advantages, Levie argued the opposite: "The more places where customers can use their data is only a net positive. We want to connect to every MCP environment possible."
This mirrors how APIs strengthened platforms by creating more integration points, not weakening them.
Takeaway: Embrace interoperability standards. They'll make your platform more valuable, not less defensible.
9. AI Agents Work Best When Customers Don't Know They Exist
The Key Insight: The best B2B AI implementations are invisible to end users.
Datta emphasized: "There'll be thousands of agents working in the background, but typically one interface for the client. You don't know if you're talking to SuccessFactors or other products—you're just talking to the Watsonx bot."
Customers want outcomes, not technology. They don't care about having "a thousand agents"—they want their problems solved seamlessly.
Takeaway: Hide the complexity. Focus on delivering better outcomes, not showcasing your AI architecture.
10. Traditional Business Fundamentals Now Matter More Than Ever
The Key Insight: As AI capabilities become commoditized, execution and customer focus become the primary differentiators.
"The things that transcend AI will become even more important," Levie concluded. "Building a company, hiring a sales team, iterating, building better products, serving customers—the lowering of barriers to build doesn't make it easier to build sustainable businesses."
While AI democratizes software creation, it doesn't make building great companies any easier. Long-term thinking, customer obsession, and execution excellence remain paramount.
Takeaway: Don't let AI distract from business fundamentals. The companies that win will combine great AI with great execution.
The Bottom Line for B2B Leaders: AI agents aren't just the next feature to add—they represent a fundamental shift to selling digital labor instead of software tools. The companies that recognize this shift and act on it in the next 24 months will cement dominant positions in their markets. Those that don't risk becoming irrelevant.
The race is on. Your customers are ready to buy AI solutions now. The question is whether you'll be the vendor they choose, or whether a competitor—potentially one that didn't exist six months ago—will capture that opportunity instead.
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