The idea that ChatGPT could become a mega-SaaS app seemed fanciful just months ago.
But things change so fast in AI. Fast forward today and it’s easy to see it becoming the front-end to most B2B apps—and supplanting many at a practical level, even if in many cases almost by accident.
The B2B world is experiencing its own version of this dynamic. Except instead of two egos competing for attention, it’s one AI platform systematically absorbing the functionality of entire categories of business software.
With 3 Million Business Users Already … OpenAI Is Playing a Different Game
OpenAI announced it now has 3 million paying business users, up from the 2 million it reported in February. That’s 50% growth in just four months. But the real story isn’t the user count—it’s what those users are doing.
Companies like SEMrush, Duolingo, and Microsoft have proven that integrating AI, especially ChatGPT, leads to massive revenue increases. SEMrush grew from $92.1M in 2019 to $307.68M in 2023 by embedding AI into its platform. Duolingo saw a 45% revenue boost in 2023 after integrating GPT-4 to enhance user engagement.
While these companies integrated ChatGPT to enhance their existing products, OpenAI is building something that could replace the need for those products entirely.
The Connector Revolution: Death by a Thousand Integrations
The launch of ChatGPT connectors fundamentally changes the game. ChatGPT Team and ChatGPT Enterprise users can now access “connectors,” which will allow workers to pull data from third-party tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, Box and OneDrive without leaving ChatGPT.
This isn’t just another integration play. It’s architectural dominance.
Think about what just happened:
- Your CRM data? Accessible through ChatGPT
- Your project management system? ChatGPT can read it
- Your document repositories? ChatGPT knows what’s in them
- Your communication platforms? ChatGPT can summarize and act on them
HubSpot launched the first CRM deep research connector with ChatGPT, allowing marketers to ask “find my highest-converting cohorts from recent contacts and create a tailored nurture sequence to boost engagement,” then use the insights to launch an automated workflow in HubSpot.
But here’s the uncomfortable question for leaders like HubSpot: If ChatGPT can already analyze your CRM data, create marketing sequences, and increasingly handle the execution… what exactly are you paying HubSpot for?
The Accidental B2B Killer
Most B2B and SaaS companies aren’t being disrupted by ChatGPT intentionally. OpenAI isn’t trying to build a CRM or project management tool, at least not yet. But by becoming the universal interface to all business data and workflows, ChatGPT is creating what economists call “consumer surplus capture.”
ChatGPT and other new GPTs have disrupted the SaaS and no-code space, potentially destroying 99% of startups in the industry and creating new business opportunities in the chatbot and GPT market.
The pattern is becoming clear:
- Phase 1: SaaS company integrates with ChatGPT to enhance their offering
- Phase 2: Users discover they can accomplish 80% of their workflows directly in ChatGPT
- Phase 3: The original SaaS becomes a glorified database that feeds ChatGPT
- Phase 4: Users question why they need the original SaaS at all
The Enterprise Embrace Is Accelerating
“Half of all Zapier employees are now leveraging AI in their work. ChatGPT Enterprise lets us work with sensitive data due to the enhanced security and privacy controls.”
Think about the irony here: Zapier, the automation company, is using ChatGPT Enterprise for automation. The company that built workflows to connect different SaaS tools is now using an AI that can potentially replace the need for those connections entirely.
The enterprise adoption numbers are staggering:
- IBM reports that 42% of large companies already use AI, and another 40% are exploring it
- OpenAI expects revenue of $12.7 billion this year
- Companies are paying $3,000-$7,000 monthly for mid-sized ChatGPT integrations
The Custom GPT Trojan Horse
The Custom GPTs feature seemed like a nice-to-have when OpenAI launched it. Now it looks like genius strategy. Users can build custom versions of ChatGPT for almost any area of expertise—with specific instructions, knowledge and capabilities—and publish for others to use.
These aren’t just chatbots. They’re specialized SaaS applications:
- Sales Navigator: Browses the web and uses competitive analysis data
- Data Analyst: Analyzes data and builds graphics for presentations
- HR Helper: Answers benefits and healthcare questions using company handbooks
- Tech Advisor: Helps employees through IT problems
- Support Guide: Assists with customer questions using uploaded guides
Each Custom GPT is essentially a vertical SaaS solution—but one that benefits from ChatGPT’s massive model improvements, security infrastructure, and integration ecosystem.
The MCP Protocol: Really Opening the Enterprise Integration Floodgates
While connectors handle the mainstream business tools, OpenAI’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the real power play that many B2B and SaaS leaders are missing. MCP support is now available to Pro, Team, and Enterprise users, and it represents something far more strategic than simple integrations.
MCP allows developers to connect ChatGPT to virtually any tool for deep research and analysis. It’s not just about reading data—it’s about creating a standardized way for any software to become a ChatGPT extension.
Think of MCP as the “REST API moment” for AI integration. Just as REST APIs democratized software integrations in the 2000s, MCP is democratizing AI-software connections. The difference? This time, the AI platform becomes the primary interface, not just another integration endpoint.
For SaaS companies, this creates a tough choice: build an MCP connector and risk becoming a backend service, at least in part. Or ignore it and watch competitors gain ChatGPT-native advantages.
The Network Effect Moat
Here’s what makes this particularly dangerous for incumbent SaaS companies: network effects. Every connector, every Custom GPT, every integration makes ChatGPT more valuable for everyone.
The initiative builds on the momentum of Custom GPTs, which allow users to build personalized versions of ChatGPT with unique instructions and APIs. Connectors represent the next logical step, allowing those Custom GPTs to interact with an organization’s core tools and documents.
Traditional B2B and SaaS companies have to convince each customer to adopt their specific workflow. ChatGPT becomes more useful simply by existing in an organization where other people are using it with their tools.
The Data Gravity Problem
The perhaps most insidious part of this shift is data gravity. Once ChatGPT becomes the primary interface for business workflows, it accumulates institutional knowledge that becomes incredibly difficult to replace.
OpenAI syncs an encrypted copy of company files and conversations on ChatGPT’s servers. The custom GPT-4o model searches and “reads” internal information possibly relevant to a query.
Your sales methodology, customer interaction patterns, decision-making processes—all of this becomes encoded in how your team uses ChatGPT. Switching becomes not just expensive, but informationally destructive.
The Response: Integration or Obliteration
SaaS companies are responding in three ways:
1. Full Integration (the smart play): HubSpot’s deep research connector automatically available to all HubSpot customers across all tiers with a paid ChatGPT plan
2. Competition (the expensive play): Building their own AI capabilities from scratch
3. Denial (the deadly play): Hoping this is just hype that will pass
The companies choosing option 1 understand something crucial: in the age of AI, being the system of record is more valuable than being the system of engagement.
What This Means for B2B and SaaS Leaders
For incumbents: Your moat isn’t your UI anymore—it’s your data and domain expertise. The question isn’t whether to integrate with ChatGPT, but how deeply and quickly you can embed that integration into your value proposition.
For startups: Building a new SaaS application that doesn’t have a clear AI integration strategy is like building a website without mobile responsiveness in 2015. Possible, but probably pointless.
For investors: The companies that will survive this transition are those that can answer: “What happens when ChatGPT can do 80% of what your software does?” The answer can’t be “That won’t happen.”
The Long View: Platform Consolidation
Generative AI is poised to revolutionize enterprise software, transforming traditional workflow systems into dynamic, goal-oriented environments.
We’re witnessing the biggest platform consolidation since the shift from desktop to web to mobile. But unlike previous transitions, this one isn’t just about interface—it’s about intelligence.
The B2B and SaaS applications that survive will be those that become indispensable data sources and execution engines for AI platforms, rather than trying to own the entire user experience.
