Sequoia's thesis that the next $1T company will sell work, not software, is the most important reframe in AI right now. The argument: if you sell a copilot, you're competing with every new model release. But if you sell the outcome — books closed, contracts reviewed, claims handled — every AI improvement makes your margins better, not your product obsolete. The key insight most people miss: for every $1 spent on software, ~$6 is spent on services. The entire SaaS playbook was about capturing the software dollar. The AI playbook is about capturing the services dollar — at software margins. Not "AI for accountants." The AI accounting firm. Not "AI for lawyers." The AI law firm. The companies that figure this out won't look like SaaS companies. They'll look like services firms rebuilt on software infrastructure. That's a fundamentally different company to build, fund, and scale. And most founders are still building copilots.
