Is AINS the Next SaaS?
1. Key Themes
AINS (AI-Native Services) as the Next Major Investment Category
VCs are betting that the next wave of startup value creation won't come from selling software, but from owning and delivering the underlying services themselves — in law, accounting, and insurance.
"Saper and his firm Emergence Capital are betting that accounting, insurance, legal, and other people-intensive industries will be the next frontier for startups."
Outcome-Based Pricing Replaces Billable Hours
The AINS model fundamentally disrupts incumbent pricing structures by charging for results rather than time, enabled by dramatic AI-driven productivity gains.
"These AINS businesses are often charging for the results of their services rather than billable hours (because they aim to do the job in far fewer hours than traditional human-powered services businesses could). So you might pay per completed contract, say, rather than for the hours a lawyer says it took."
Human + AI Pairing as the Core Operating Model
AINS companies aren't purely autonomous AI — they hire domain experts and embed them alongside AI-focused engineers to supercharge productivity.
"They're hiring lawyers, accountants, and insurance brokers and pairing them with AI-pilled software engineers who are tasked with figuring out ways to make those service providers much more productive."
The Three Pillars of an AINS Company (from the slide image)
The summit slide defines an AINS company along three axes, all of which must be true simultaneously:
Per the slide: (1) "Leverages AI to deliver a service faster, better, and/or cheaper than incumbents," (2) "Delivers & owns outcomes," and (3) "AI-native from inception."
2. Contrarian Perspectives
Startups Should Compete as Service Providers, Not Tool Vendors The prevailing SaaS-era playbook was to sell software to professional services firms. The AINS thesis inverts this — startups should become the firm, using AI to undercut incumbents on cost, speed, and quality. This is a direct challenge to the assumption that regulated professional services are too entrenched for startup disruption.
"Instead of selling software like last-generation startups did, these next-generation AI startups are selling the underlying services themselves."
"AI-Native from Inception" as a Structural Moat The framing that AINS companies must be AI-native from the start implies that incumbents — even those aggressively adopting AI tools — cannot replicate the model. Legacy law firms or accounting practices retrofitting AI onto billable-hour structures are structurally disadvantaged.
Per the slide: An AINS company must be "AI-native from inception" — one of three defining characteristics, suggesting incumbents cannot simply bolt on AI and compete.
3. Companies Identified
Crosby
- Description: An AI-native law firm startup
- Why mentioned: Hosted the AINS summit organized by Jake Saper; used as a real-world example of the AINS model being built in legal services
- Quote: "I dropped by the offices of AI-native law firm Crosby to listen in on a small summit organized by investor Jake Saper."
4. People Identified
Jake Saper
- Description: Investor at Emergence Capital
- Why mentioned: The central figure behind the AINS thesis; organized a founder summit to spread the playbook and shared a private deck outlining the AINS investment framework
- Quote: "Saper and his firm Emergence Capital are betting that accounting, insurance, legal, and other people-intensive industries will be the next frontier for startups."
5. Operating Insights
Hire Domain Experts First, Then Engineer Productivity Around Them The AINS operating model starts with credentialed professionals (lawyers, accountants, brokers) and systematically deploys AI engineers to compress the labor required — rather than starting with software and layering in humans later.
"They're hiring lawyers, accountants, and insurance brokers and pairing them with AI-pilled software engineers who are tasked with figuring out ways to make those service providers much more productive."
Reprice Your Services Around Outputs, Not Inputs For founders building in professional services, the pricing model is as important as the technology. Moving to per-outcome pricing signals confidence in efficiency and aligns incentives with customers.
"You might pay per completed contract, say, rather than for the hours a lawyer says it took."
6. Overlooked Insights
The Roll-Up vs. Build-Native Strategic Fork The article's headline frames a choice — "Roll-ups vs. AI-Native Services" — that is only briefly surfaced in the text. This implies there is a competing thesis (AI-powered roll-ups of existing professional services firms) that Saper's AINS framework is positioned against. The strategic and investment implications of choosing one path over the other are significant but left unexplored in the available text.
"Roll-ups vs. AI-Native Services. Here's the download on why some VCs are betting that startups will build AI-native law firms & insurance companies."