Feb 19, 2026
Why content owners don't need to fear the AI disruption of software, and why the ones who move first will own what comes next.
David Orman
Co-Founder & CEO
TL;DR
AI isn’t killing software. It’s killing the interface layer - dashboards, logins, and fragmented SaaS tools.
AI agents increasingly interact directly with APIs and data layers, not graphical interfaces.
The real question isn’t whether SaaS survives, it’s who controls the data when the interface disappears.
For content owners, the core need hasn’t changed: store content securely, control rights, distribute it, and get paid.
What AI changes is what can happen once content is structured and accessible.
The next generation of media infrastructure will not just store content, it will activate it, helping owners find audiences, manage rights, and automate distribution.
This requires a single source of truth where the master file, rights data, audience insights, and revenue all live together.
When AI sits on top of that foundation, it becomes an accelerant rather than a gimmick.
Hiway is built as that infrastructure layer, the rails behind content ownership, distribution, and monetisation.
The SaaS debate is missing the point: interfaces may disappear, but the data layer behind content ownership is becoming more valuable than ever.
Every week there's a new headline. "SaaS is dead." "AI agents will replace your software stack." Satya Nadella said it in December 2024. Palantir's CEO said it again in February 2026, wiping $300 billion in market cap from Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow in a single day.
The tech press loves a funeral.
But here's what nobody is saying: the debate is about the wrong layer.
What's Actually Dying
Nadella was right, but not in the way most people interpreted it.
What's dying is the interface. The dashboard. The multi-tab, multi-login, "navigate between four systems to complete one task" experience that made SaaS feel like progress but was always just friction with a monthly invoice.
AI agents don't need a GUI. They talk to APIs. They don't log in, they orchestrate. The software behind the interface, where the data actually lives, that part isn't going anywhere.
IDC put it well: SaaS is being disrupted by evolution, not decline. The question isn't whether software dies. It's who controls the data layer when the interface disappears.
For content owners, that question matters more than any other.
What Content Owners Actually Need
A filmmaker finishes a feature. A federation produces a season of content. A rights holder acquires a library.
At that moment, they have one fundamental need: a secure place to store what they own, share it with the right people, and get paid for it.
That is not going away. AI doesn't change the fact that content exists, that it has value, and that someone needs to manage where it goes and who sees it.
What AI does change is what you can do with content once it's stored. That's where most of the industry is asleep.
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The Real Opportunity: Storage That Works for You
Right now, most content owners use storage the way people used filing cabinets. Drop it in. Label it. Hope you find it again.
That model is over.
The next generation of content infrastructure isn't just a place to put things. It's a system that understands what you have, who it's for, how to get it to them, and what it's worth. An AI interface layered over your content library doesn't just organise it. It activates it.
Think about what that looks like in practice:
You upload a film. The system reads the metadata, identifies the audience segments most likely to engage, suggests the right distribution windows, generates the marketing materials, and sets up a SmartLink with the correct rights controls and payment terms already baked in. You review. You approve. You distribute.
Not across six different tools. One system.
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Why Hiway Is Built for This Moment
This is exactly the infrastructure question that Hiway was designed to answer.
We are not a platform in the traditional sense. We don't compete with Netflix, Amazon, or any content destination. We sit underneath all of them. The rails, not the train.
Hiway gives content owners a single source of truth. One place where the master file lives, where the rights are recorded, where the audience data accumulates, where payments flow back in real time. That foundation is what makes an AI layer useful. Without it, AI has nothing to work with. With it, AI becomes an accelerant.
The seat-based SaaS model that's collapsing was never the right model for content anyway. Content doesn't have users. It has rights holders. It has audiences. It has revenue events. That's an infrastructure question, not a software licensing question.
The Owners Who Move First
The SaaS companies losing value right now built their moats around interface complexity. Lock users in with dashboards. Make switching painful. Charge per seat.
Content infrastructure works differently. The moat is the data. The audience relationships. The rights chain. The revenue history. Those don't move. They accumulate.
Bain & Company's analysis puts it clearly: companies with strong data moats are the ones positioned to lead, not just survive, the AI transition. Bain & Company That's not a coincidence. Data that compounds is the only defence that matters when the interface disappears.
For filmmakers, producers, festivals, and rights holders, the message is simple. Get your content under one roof. Build the data layer now. Let the AI interface sit on top of something real.
The debate about SaaS dying is a debate about enterprise software tools designed for operations teams. That's not your world.
Your world is content. Rights. Audiences. Revenue.
That infrastructure isn't being disrupted. It's being built.
Is SaaS really dying?
Not exactly. What’s disappearing is the traditional SaaS interface layer — dashboards, logins, and seat-based software tools. AI agents increasingly interact directly with APIs and data instead of user interfaces. The software infrastructure itself still exists, but how people interact with it is changing.
What does this shift mean for filmmakers and content owners?
For content owners, the most important asset isn’t software tools. It’s the content, rights, audience data, and revenue history connected to that content. As AI changes interfaces, the real competitive advantage becomes the underlying data infrastructure where those assets live.
Why does a “single source of truth” matter for content?
A single source of truth means that the master content file, rights data, audience information, and revenue tracking all exist in one controlled system. This avoids fragmentation across multiple tools, reduces piracy risks, simplifies collaboration, and makes AI-driven workflows possible.
How can AI actually help content owners?
When AI sits on top of a structured content library, it can help with: Identifying audience segments Suggesting distribution strategies Generating marketing materials Managing rights windows and territories Automating distribution and payment flows AI becomes useful only when the underlying content data is organised properly.
About the Author
David Orman
Co-Founder & CEO
With a career that has taken me through venture capital, media, sport and digital content, I’ve picked up more stories than I can count, and too many I can't tell....