Larry Dignan

Here’s a look at three themes I think will be notable in the months ahead.

SaaS vendors will go headless. What do you do when your business relies on a UI as the lead singer for AI agents? Turn into a platform and think headless. Salesforce launched Salesforce Headless 360 in a move that makes its entire platform available via APIs, Model Context Protocol and CLI commands for humans and AI agents. The move means you won’t have to log into Salesforce to use its applications and services. It’s also a move that is likely to be replicated by other SaaS vendors. Also see:

• SaaS under the microscope: How to evaluate your vendor
• Why Slackbot is so strategic to Salesforce
• Monday rolls out welcome mat to external AI agents

AI and SaaS blend together. Agentic AI and SaaS aren’t zero sum. Why? The path of least resistance is to adopt AI within SaaS. Meanwhile, SaaS providers are providing their own differentiation. For instance, Canva launched Canva AI 2.0, which includes its purpose-built foundational models for design. AI is just part of the experience now.

• Canva revamps its platform with Canva AI 2.0
• Certinia launches Veda AI agent suite

Anthropic leads and OpenAI follows (for now). It’s hard to overstate how much momentum Anthropic has compared to OpenAI. Anthropic just seems one step ahead. OpenAI released GPT-5.4-Cyber, beefed-up Trusted Access for Cyber program in a move that looks a little me-too relative to Anthropic’s rollout of Claude Mythos to the cybersecurity industry and launched Project Glasswing. Big banks are also talking Anthropic. See: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs on Anthropic's Mythos, AI cyber risks

As an aside is anyone else getting Anthropic and OpenAI fatigue? When Claude starts carding you we’re getting closer to the fatigue levels.

I'll just leave this here.

Anthropic Labs has launched Claude Design, a product that lets you collaborate with Claude, powered by Opus 4.7, and create visual designs, prototypes and one pagers. Claude Design will be in research preview for Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise subscribers.

Figma shares were down about 5% and just above $19. That price may be a win since Figma is above its 52-week low of $17.65. Perhaps the Anthropic freak out effect on enterprise software is waning.

Speaking on TSMC's first quarter earnings call, CEO C.C. Wei summed up AI demand.

"AI-related demand continues to be extremely robust. The shift from generative AI and the query mode to agentic AI and command and action mode is leading to another step-up in the amount of tokens being consumed. This is driving the need for more and more computation, which supports the robust demand for leading-edge silicon. Our customers and customers' customers, who are mainly the cloud service providers, continue to provide us with their very strong signal and positive outlook. Thus, our conviction in the multiyear AI megatrend remains high, and we believe the demand for semiconductors will continue to be very fundamental. Supported by our robust technology differentiation and broad customer base, we maintain strong confidence for our full year 2026 revenue to now grow by above 30% in U.S. dollar terms."

A few quick headlines on the LLM front.

• Google updated AI Mode in Chrome so you can open links without switching tabs.
• OpenAI launched GPT-Rosalind, an AI model for life sciences research.
• OpenAI updated its Codex desktop app to take on more tasks beyond coding.
• Bloomberg reports that the OMB is looking to allow their agencies to use Anthropic’s Mythos model.
• Google outlined Gemini app integration between Personal Intelligence and Nano Banana 2.

Netflix reported first quarter earnings that were solid, but provided an outlook that fell short of expectations. In addition, Reed Hastings will step down as chairman.

The company projected second quarter revenue of $12.57 billion, below the $12.63 billion Wall Street estimate. In a shareholder letter, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the following:

• "We are continually expanding how we can leverage AI to improve the member experience, and in Q1 we acquired InterPositive to provide our creators with a broader set of GenAI tools. We are also redesigning our mobile experience, including the launch of vertical video at the end of the month."
• "Our advertising revenue remains on track to reach $3B in 2026, up 2x year-over-year."
• "Over the next few years, we will continue to leverage technology to create a more personalized, more immersive, and more interactive experience for our members."
• "We’ve been using machine learning and AI for many years, and as the technology advances with GenAI, we continue to find new opportunities to deliver an even more seamless experience for members and expand possibilities for storytellers. This includes using GenAI to improve recommendations for members through deeper content understanding so we can recommend the right title at the right moment, test conversational discovery experiences, and improve the breadth and quality of our promotional assets."

The employment market for recent college graduates is improving, according to a ZipRecruiter report.

In the report, ZipRecruiter said the share of grads landing a job within three months of graduation rose to 77%, up from 63% from a year ago. ZipRecruiter noted that AI adoption is still affecting the entry level market.

Key findings:

• Graduates who worked during school found jobs at twice the rate of those who didn't.
• 40% of recent grads completed internships.
• 38% of grads are considering starting their own business.

Also see: Your AI talent planning algorithm is common sense

You have an ID? Welcome to Claude's new workflow where it will ask for ID verification for certain features. In a blog post, Anthropic said:

"We are rolling out identity verification for a few use cases, and you might see a verification prompt when accessing certain capabilities, as part of our routine platform integrity checks, or other safety and compliance measures."

Claude will take passports, driver's licenses or state/provincial ID cards and national identity cards. You'll need to hold the physical document in hand and take a selfie on phone or webcam. The verification typically takes less than 5 minutes.

Smartphone shipments fell 4.1% in the first quarter due to price increases and memory shortages, according to IDC data. IDC said the first quarter slowdown is "a mild precursor for what lies ahead in 2026."

Salesforce is going headless and extending its entire platform via APIs, MCP and CLI commands for humans and agents to build. The move extends Salesforce as a platform and means you can now work outside of the Salesforce environment.

The effort, Salesforce Headless 360, is outlined in a blog. My bet is that the ability to go headless is going to be critical to evaluating your software vendor.

• SaaS under the microscope: How to evaluate your vendor

Meta and Broadcom said they will extend their partnership to co-develop multiple generations of Meta's MTIA chips. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan will leave Meta's board. The expanded partnership indicates Meta is ready to rapidly scale its custom chips for AI workloads.

• Meta launches new set of AI chips, but its approach is the big lesson

Large language model (LLM) giants have new favorite words: Repeatable and routines.

Anthropic launched routines in Claude Code in research preview. A routine is a Claude Code automation you configure once and run on a schedule. Claude Code routines can schedule code reviews, API calls and GitHub chores. Routines are available on Anthropic Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans.

On a more personal level, Google launched Skills, repeatable AI prompts that users can run in Chrome with a keyboard shortcut. You can set up your own Skill or use a set of more than 50 presets.

Bottom line: AI agents are going mainstream on multiple levels.