Unleashing domain dominance: How AI-driven vertical SaaS is redefining the future of enterprise software

By Siddhartha Chandurkar, Founder & CEO of ShepHertz

Vertical SaaS has piqued the interest of many in the SaaS segment and its growth is led by amazing capabilities this industry-specific solution comes equipped with.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) discipline is being disrupted. From board-based, generic applications, enterprises are moving towards tailor-made SaaS solutions. Christened AI-driven Vertical SaaS, these specialised solutions are well poised to catapult a tectonic shift in the SaaS industry.  The adoption of Vertical SaaS is rapidly growing, leading to a 14% decline in the use of traditional SaaS applications in 2023. Here’s how Vertical SaaS is empowering businesses across business verticals:

1. Domain Expertise: SaaS is sweeping in its applications and usage. Vertical SaaS, however, is based on deep domain knowledge, specialising in solving complex problems. Powered by AI, ML, and Big Data, Vertical SaaS solves the unique challenges of specific domains of specific industries. From healthcare to manufacturing, Vertical SaaS addresses the specific pain points, thereby making it a far better option than traditional SaaS.
2. Targeted Solutions: Vertical SaaS uses hyper-personalisation as its operating philosophy. Unlike SaaS which aims to drive generic efficiencies, Vertical SaaS uses a hyper-targetted approach to deliver results. For example, take the ecommerce segment. Unlike SaaS which offers operational insights, the application of vertical SaaS could offer multifaceted benefits to firms. From forecasting demands to managing inventories and analysing consumers, Vertical SaaS can deliver much more than what SaaS is capable of.
3. Seamless Integration: Vertical SaaS integrates with existing legacy systems without any fuss. This means huge cost and time savings as firms need not worry about implementation hiccups. The implementation doesn’t necessitate data migration nor one has to deal with lengthy implementation procedures. This is especially beneficial to achieve a first-mover advantage or quickly respond to shifts in consumer demand.
4. End-to-end Automation: AI-powered Vertical SaaS helps firms achieve complete workflow automation. Vertical SaaS can also implement solutions and monitor progress in a completely autonomous manner. This one-step-ahead approach of implementing solutions autonomously puts Vertical SaaS ahead of ordinary SaaS applications.

AI-powered Vertical SaaS has taken the effectiveness of SaaS a notch higher. These solutions are hyper-personalised, thereby delivering domain-specific solutions that meet the specific needs of industries. These also help firms achieve workflow automation in a complete end-to-end manner and autonomously implement solutions. Summarily, the era of Vertical SaaS has just begun and it’s just a matter of time before these AI-powered SaaS solutions will become a mainstay of the software industry.