AI Is Reshaping SaaS—These 2 Software ETFs Offer Different Ways to Play It

AI Is Reshaping SaaS—These 2 Software ETFs Offer Different Ways to Play It

Software spending continues to grow, with extra tailwinds in many cases thanks to AI, and a recent spate of earnings wins affirms this . Of course, as the landscape shifts with the influx of AI and the threat of a "SaaSpocalypse" that could eliminate or reduce the value proposition of many software-as-a-service (SaaS) firms, investors must be more cautious: strong revenue growth, expanding margins and free cash flow, customer and net revenue retention, and other factors all matter more than ever. At the Dreamforce 2026 conference, customer relationship management giant Salesforce Inc. NYSE: CRM announced an expanded partnership with OpenAI that will integrate the latter's frontier AI models into its platform. With the potential for a symbiotic relationship emerging, investors may have renewed interest in the SaaS space more broadly. Fortunately, two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with significant exposure to this area are already rallying and may have more room to run as new catalysts solidify.

The Salesforce partnership with OpenAI allows the CRM company to act as an orchestration layer rather than as a competitor to a technology that many have worried might replace SaaS entirely. For OpenAI, the benefits include the potential for increased access to a new customer base. Salesforce's customer relationships and enterprise data are significant advantages and could lead to material revenue impacts. Given the company's record Q2 revenue of $11.4 billion and AI-related annual recurring revenue of $1.5 billion, it's not hard to imagine an expanded partnership continuing to grow those areas. At the same time, if AI should end up compressing margins by becoming a "must-have" for all SaaS companies, even if it does not have a major benefit, say, or if usage and customer bases can't maintain the appropriate growth levels, there may be trouble still for SaaS firms down the line.

For the broadest bets on SaaS going forward—without the need to wager on individual company successes—a fund like the i Shares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF BATS: IGV may appeal. The fund has a special focus on some 107 U.S. software firms , including both those that are already heavily involved in AI and those that have not (or not yet) made this pivot publicly. IGV's momentum in the last six months is impressive: the fund has climbed by 26% in that time, though it remains up only about 2.75% year to date (YTD) owing to declines earlier in the year. With more than $14 billion in assets under management and robust trading volumes, investors shouldn't have to worry about liquidity, regardless of how actively they may trade IGV shares.