AI & I If SaaS Is Dead, Linear Didn't Get the Memo
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Apr 1, 2026 
Karri Saarinen, Linear cofounder and CEO, is a product leader known for sharp design craft. He talks about why Linear ignored the chatbot rush, how it is building a shared workspace for humans and AI agents, and why the SaaS extinction story is overblown. They also dig into product memory, code review workflows, and the tension between speed and thoughtful product decisions.
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Why Linear Waited To Ship AI
- Linear ignored the early chatbot rush because Karri Saarinen saw little workflow value in bolting chat onto issue tracking.
- Instead, Linear built open docs and an agent platform, letting Codex, Ramp, and Coinbase agents plug into shared product context.
Why The SaaS Is Dead Story Is Too Simple
- Karri Saarinen thinks the SaaS-is-dead story is directionally right about uncertainty but too simplistic about customers rebuilding everything from scratch.
- He argues incumbents suffer because their old moats and habits weaken, while startups can rethink products from day one.
Why More Agent Written Code Is A Vanity Metric
- Karri Saarinen rejects vanity metrics like percent of agent-written code because output volume says nothing about product value.
- He prefers quality signals like bugs, user response, and revenue, and Linear enforces a one-week SLA with a zero-bugs policy.