The dataset snowball effect: How AI is changing SaaS

From machine learning-powered fraud defense on Shopify to Salesforce's Einstein, over the past couple of years, SaaS industry leaders have invested heavily in artificial intelligence R&D and have rapidly acquired AI companies to give themselves a lead over the competition. Thanks to cloud computing services democratizing access to AI, we may be on the cusp of a new age when emerging SaaS providers begin to roll out AI applications that really solve problems for consumers. I spoke to a number of experts at this year's SAAS NORTH conference in Ottawa, Canada about the evolving nature of AI in the SaaS industry. According to their insights, here's what the future might hold: The traditional SaaS model is based on rolling monthly subscriptions, meaning SaaS companies need to constantly improve and nurture their customer relationships to keep clients returning month by month. Leo Lax, founder of Ottawa-based SaaS accelerator L-Spark, said, "AI is helping to reduce the manual labor that was involved in the building of the customer relationship and allowing vendors of SaaS to interface with customers in a more meaningful way."