By Naveen Goyal, Founder & CEO – Meritto (A Product of NoPaperForms)
In education, transformation isn’t a one-time project. It’s a mindset shift. And in the age of AI, it’s not just about adopting intelligence – it’s about engineering systems that are intelligent by design. We’re entering a new era of AI – agentic AI – where systems don’t just respond to commands but act on behalf of users, making decisions, adapting workflows, and continuously learning from context. But for agentic AI to work meaningfully in education, it needs the right foundation.
That foundation isn’t horizontal platforms duct-taped across departments. It’s Vertical SaaS: purpose-built, deeply integrated, and tailored to the unique demands of education. When agentic AI is layered onto such systems, it doesn’t just function—it flourishes. Because now, intelligence isn’t forced to learn the domain; it’s born into it.
Why Agentic AI Needs Context
Most AI systems today are great at automation. They classify, route, summarise, predict. But agentic AI goes further—it engages in reasoning, chooses actions, and adapts dynamically. For that, it needs more than data. It needs contextual intelligence- a nuanced understanding of the domain it operates in. This is where vertical SaaS platforms shine.
At its core, SaaS should not just serve education—it needs to understand it. Educational institutions deal with massive complexities across each student touchpoint: be it admissions, marketing, financing, academics, assessments, alumni engagement, or placements. Each department speaks its own language, uses its own tools, and optimises for its own KPIs. This is where Vertical SaaS comes into the picture.
A Vertical SaaS platform doesn’t just unify these silos technically – it unifies them intellectually. It builds a shared data model, a consistent understanding of student intent, progress, risk, and value. This structure is exactly what agentic AI requires. It needs consistent signals, clear workflows, and contextual benchmarks to operate effectively. When AI is deployed inside this context-rich environment, it stops being a plugin and becomes an agent. Not a feature, but a force.
SaaS as the Operating System for AI-Native Institutions
The most successful institutions of tomorrow won’t be the ones that merely adopt AI- they’ll be the ones that are built for it. That requires a shift from viewing SaaS as a set of tools to embracing it as the operating system of the institution. In an AI-native model, everything is connected and intelligent by default. A spike in enquiry engagement automatically informs the admissions pipeline. A delay in fee payment adjusts the communication flow. A drop in academic activity triggers a retention intervention. This kind of intelligence isn’t possible with stitched-together systems. It only works when every layer—from CRM to payments to engagement—is part of a single platform designed with intentionality. Vertical SaaS makes this possible by aligning operations, data, and outcomes around a single, evolving system of intelligence.
This is what happens when SaaS becomes the system of intelligence, not just a system of record. Agentic AI thrives when every module speaks the same language and shares a common brain.
What Changes When SaaS is Vertical, and AI is Agentic
When you combine the specificity of vertical SaaS with the adaptability of agentic AI, you don’t just improve productivity – you rewire the institution.
- Engagement becomes orchestration: Conversations across email, chat, calls, and forms become unified, intelligent, and goal-driven.
- Decision-making becomes predictive: AI doesn’t just support decisions—it initiates them, based on signals across the lifecycle.
- Intervention becomes anticipatory: Dropout risks are flagged before they happen. Financing gaps are solved before they disrupt journeys.
Most importantly, student success becomes a system outcome, not a departmental responsibility.
The End of General-Purpose Platforms
The industry is already showing signs. Investors are backing startups that are vertical-first and AI-native. Large enterprises are demanding solutions that go beyond cosmetic digitisation. And global benchmarks are shifting from features to outcomes.
The broader market trends only validate this shift. Vertical SaaS is projected to grow exponentially in the next decade, driven by large enterprises demanding faster time-to-value and AI-powered efficiency. The horizontal SaaS model—where institutions are forced to customise and integrate endlessly—is hitting a ceiling. Implementation delays, high costs, and limited adoption have become standard complaints. In contrast, vertical SaaS platforms are leaner, faster to deploy, and more effective because they solve specific problems, not theoretical ones. They don’t require institutions to mold their workflows around software—they mold software around institutional workflows. That’s not just product innovation. That’s market fit.
The message is clear: generic tools can’t handle specific problems. Especially not in education, where the stakes are high and the journeys are human. At NoPaperForms, we’ve always believed that transformation begins with purpose. And as AI grows in power, the real question isn’t what AI can do—but where and how it’s applied.
Because the future of education won’t be led by technology. It’ll be led by those who use it to empower.