AI-native software is quickly climbing the ranks

The software market seems to be in the early days of a more fundamental change.

In a number of categories, AI-native vendors are growing adoption at the expense of established players. And the newcomers gaining the most ground aren't the ones you'd expect.

Adoption shifts, but dollars lag

In our new Spring 2026 Business Spending Report, we tracked adoption and spend trends across dozens of software categories. The pattern is consistent.

In sales execution software, AI-native tools grew their adoption rate an average of 5.3 percentage points year over year while incumbents declined 0.3 points. In business intelligence, newcomers averaged five-point growth while established vendors dropped 1.3 points. Product analytics is even more dramatic — a 17-point gain for newcomers and a 4.5-point decrease for incumbents.

Incumbents, however, continue to capture the lion's share of total spend. Established providers still bring in more than 70% of category spend for sales execution and product analytics. In business intelligence, nearly 83% of market share belongs to incumbents.

It’s clear that AI-native vendors are quickly gaining popularity. The question is: how long will the gap between adoption and spend hold?

Granola: 0% to 20% adoption in 18 months

AI meeting notes tools have surged, and one vendor stands out. Granola went from almost zero to 20% adoption in roughly 18 months. In the past quarter alone, adoption nearly doubled. It's also the tool first-time adopters in the category choose most often.

Profound: The leader in a fast-emerging category

Answer engine optimization — tools that help AI answer engines surface your content — is one of the fastest-growing new software categories. Profound has pulled away with a 40% adoption rate at the end of Q2, up from 6.6% a year ago. Peec AI, while a smaller player, has more than tripled adoption to nearly 17% over the past year.

AI editors are climbing the charts in content creation

Canva still dominates the content creation category, but AI-native editors are on the move. CapCut, the mobile-first video editor owned by TikTok parent ByteDance, is the fastest-growing vendor in the category. Audio and video editor Descrip is also on the rise.

What purchasing decisions by new buyers tell us

Purchasing decisions by first-time buyers can be a leading indicator of where a market is headed. When newcomers are winning the first purchase, the broader shift tends to follow. Our data suggests that shift is now underway in the broader software landscape.