Enterprise Software's Revenge: AI Security Excuses & Growth Slump #shorts

Name: Enterprise Software's Revenge: AI Security Excuses & Growth Slump #shorts
Uploaded: 2025-12-08T17:44:12+00:00
Duration: 1 min 5 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: In this short panel discussion, the speakers examine why large enterprise software incumbents are failing to sustain growth in the AI era. Speaker A…

8 Dec 2025 · 1 min

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1:05

In this short panel discussion, the speakers examine why large enterprise software incumbents are failing to sustain growth in the AI era. Speaker A notes that expectations of a resurgence for companies like ServiceNow have evaporated, with few incumbents showing material growth this year. The conversation shifts to how security concerns are being leveraged as an excuse to cut third‑party vendors, citing Glean’s data‑scraping of Slack and other tools as a perceived existential risk for vendors. Speaker A also observes that boardroom presentations on "AI security" are largely superficial. Speaker C then contrasts the strong growth narrative of Databricks with less optimistic metrics for other firms: PagerDuty’s modest 4% growth despite a $1 billion valuation at $500 million ARR, and Eventbrite’s recent acquisition at roughly 1.5× revenue. The dialogue underscores a broader slowdown in enterprise software growth, the strategic use of security rhetoric, and divergent valuation multiples across the sector.

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probably just before we started doing this, it kind of felt like the enterprise was going to win, that ServiceNow and everybody was going to win. And then it doesn't feel like that at all. Then we saw all the numbers take off and basically very few incumbents grew this year materially, right? They very— so, but this could be a piece of the revenge of the enterprise.
Are you cynically suggesting that we could— that a large enterprise software company could say, I'm using security as an excuse to cut you all off, but lo and behold, I have my own agent product right here, which you can now safely buy, Mr. Customer?
I think it's a good excuse. I think if you don't want Glean slurping all your data, right? Which, you know, if I'm Glean, I get it. If I don't want all of it going out of Slack or whatever, I mean, many incumbents, I think it's the best excuse there is because it's the existential risk is just too much to the vendor. It's not worth it.
Not worth it.
I don't know how many board meetings you guys have been in where the first half of this presentation was how we're going to be more secure in the age of AI, but for me it's been close to zero. Swing close to zero in the above-the-fold part of the conversation.
So we spoke about Databricks' growth. I do just want to take the flip side of that, which is a less positive or optimistic side. PagerDuty, 2x, a billion valuation at $500 million ARR, 4% growth. We just saw Lishi. It's not on the schedule. So this is where Rory gets nuts at me because I just add shit without asking him and then expect him on a whim to come up with something. And normally we can edit out pauses, but now Now he's going to be extra pissed with me. Welcome to my life. Eventbrite, they've been acquired for like $500 million.
Yeah, that's the premium, right? Yeah. So that's 1.5 times revenue.
1.5 times revenue. With a 50% premium. With a 50% premium. So new news in today and we can take the page, Judy, because it's so fresh having that Eventbrite news that it is hard to bluntly ask for such immediate thoughts. But how do we think about this? Bluntly, very harsh new reality given the lack of growth and the subsequent pricing from it.