Is AI a software game-changer 'right now' or in few years?

Investing.com -- There is debate across the tech sector over whether artificial intelligence is already reshaping software economics, or whether its full impact remains years away.

According to Bernstein analyst Richard Nguyen in a note on Tuesday, the answer is clear.

The firm said it sits firmly in the “Sooner” camp, arguing that AI is a game-changer for the sector, right now.

While adoption in enterprise software has been slower than in consumer applications, Bernstein believes the long-term payoff is “far more structural, defensible, and durable value creation once AI became core to enterprise operations.”

The note added that software is shifting “from applications to AI control planes,” with growth increasingly driven by “installed-base expansion via premium AI bundles, agents, and consumption-based pricing.”

However, some industry voices argue that markets may be misreading AI’s near-term impact.

Ido Arieli Noga, CEO of Yuki, pushed back on the idea that AI agents will displace data platforms, saying “agents don’t replace data platforms–they ingest data from them.”

Instead, he said, rising agent usage could drive higher infrastructure demand.

“More agents means more consumption, not less,” he said, adding that AI systems generate queries “at machine speed, 24/7,” often without cost optimization.

He argued that “Wall Street is pricing in disruption” when it should instead expect “a consumption spike most enterprises aren’t ready for.”

Bernstein similarly noted that AI will not eliminate demand but reshape it, particularly in IT services, where “AI did not eliminate demand but re-priced it.”

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