Software Apocalypse or Opportunity? Interview with Braden Dennis, CO-Founder and CEO of Fiscal.ai

Feb 16, 2026

Braden Dennis, co-founder and CEO of Fiscal.ai — a data and AI leader for financial analytics. He discusses whether AI is destroying or supercharging enterprise software. Conversation covers why engineering productivity has jumped, which businesses face real risk versus opportunity, and how internal AI tools are replacing off-the-shelf SaaS while enabling new data layers.

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INSIGHT

AI Changed How Software Is Built

Software engineering productivity has fundamentally changed because AI lets teams ship features much faster.
Faster shipping and easier maintenance don't remove the need for product-market fit, distribution, and integration.

ADVICE

Automate Internal Busy Work

Automate internal, manual processes that have no off-the-shelf SaaS solution.
Build AI tools to remove repetitive

ANECDOTE

Scaling A Finance Team With AI

Braden describes his finance team hitting capacity and plans to make one person operate like three with internal tools.
He expects AI-built tooling to vastly multiply individual productivity.

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Is AI eating the software industry, or is it just making it more powerful? In this episode, we sit down with Braden Dennis, CEO and co-founder of Fiscal.ai, to discuss the shift happening in enterprise SaaS. If you've watched our videos, you know we use Fiscal's charts every single day to analyze the markets, so it was great to get Braden’s perspective on where the industry is headed. We dive deep into the software apocalypse narrative and whether it’s based in reality or just a market overreaction. Braden explains why maintaining software is getting easier, how his engineering team has achieved 10x productivity, and why internal AI solutions are coming for the "busy work" that off-the-shelf SaaS can't solve. Join us on Discord with Semiconductor Insider, sign up on our website: www.chipstockinvestor.com/membership Supercharge your analysis with AI! Get 15% of your membership with our special link here: https://fiscal.ai/csi/ Sign Up For Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/b1228c12f284/sign-up-landing-page-short-form Chapters:0:00 – Is AI Eating Software? 1:12 – Meet Braden Dennis, CEO of Fiscal.ai 1:45 – Why Software Engineering Has Changed Completely 2:40 – 2026 Outlook: Opportunities vs. Traps 3:30 – What Software is Becoming Obsolete? 4:30 – Automating the "Unsolvable" Internal Busy Work 5:15 – "Intelligence in the Sky": A New Data Layer 6:10 – Pricing Power Debate: Will Clients Pay Less? 7:45 – Broadcom & VMware Case Study8:55 – Comparing the Software Correction to 2018 Semiconductors 11:45 – Lessons on Market Cyclicality 13:55 – The Problem with Late-Stage Venture Capital 16:00 – Why We Need More Tech IPOs 18:10 – The Incentive for Founders to Stay Private 20:00 – Evaluating Figma and Adobe in the AI Age21:30 – ServiceNow: Narrative vs. Financial Reality 22:45 – Final Verdict: Being Selective in a Sell-off If you found this video useful, please make sure to like and subscribe! ********************************************************* Affiliate links that are sprinkled in throughout this video. If something catches your eye and you decide to buy it, we might earn a little coffee money. Thanks for helping us (Kasey) fuel our caffeine addiction! Content in this video is for general information or entertainment only and is not specific or individual investment advice. Forecasts and information presented may not develop as predicted and there is no guarantee any strategies presented will be successful. All investing involves risk, and you could lose some or all of your principal. #AI #SaaS #SoftwareStocks #Investing #ChipStockInvestor #FiscalAI #TechInvesting #ServiceNow #stockmarket2026 Nick and Kasey own shares of Adobe, Figma, ServiceNow