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Tucked quietly into the countryside of Colchester lies Easthorpe — a place many drivers pass without ever realising it was once a village in its own right.

Workmen are being sent into town's 'major tourist attraction' in a few days time for a few months

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: One day not long ago, a founder texted his investor with an update: he was replacing his entire customer service team with Claude Code, an AI tool that can write and deploy software on its own. To Lex Zhao, an investor at One Way Ventures, the message indicated something bigger -- the moment when companies like Salesforce stopped being the automatic default. "The barriers to entry for creating software are so low now thanks to coding agents, that the build versus buy decision is shifting toward build in so many cases," Zhao told TechCrunch. The build versus buy shift is only part of the problem. The whole idea of using AI agents instead of people to perform work throws into question the SaaS business model itself. SaaS companies currently price their software per seat -- meaning by how many employees log in to use it. "SaaS has long been regarded as one of the most attractive business models due to its highly predictable recurring revenue, immense scalability, and 70-90% gross margins," Abdul Abdirahman, an investor at the venture firm F-Prime, told TechCrunch. When one, or a handful, of AI agents can do that work -- when employees simply ask their AI of choice to pull the data from the system -- that per-seat model starts to break down. The rapid pace of AI development also means that new tools, like Claude Code or OpenAI's Codex, can replicate not just the core functions of SaaS products but also the add-on tools a SaaS vendor would sell to grow revenue from existing customers. On top of that, customers now have the ultimate contract negotiation tool in their pockets: If they don't like a SaaS vendor's prices, they can, more easily than ever before, build their own alternative. "Even if they do not take the build route, this creates downward pressure on contracts that SaaS vendors can secure during renewals," Abdirahman continued. We saw this as early as late 2024, when Klarna announced that it had ditched Salesforce's flagship CRM product in favor of its own homegrown AI system. The realization that a growing number of other companies can do the same is spooking public markets, where the stock prices of SaaS giants like Salesforce and Workday have been sliding. In early February, an investor sell-off wiped nearly $1 trillion in market value from software and services stocks, followed by another billion later in the month. Experts are calling it the SaaSpocalypse, with one analyst dubbing it FOBO investing -- or fear of becoming obsolete. Yet the venture investors TechCrunch spoke with believe such fears are only temporary. "This isn't the death of SaaS," Aaron Holiday, a managing partner at 645 Ventures, told TechCrunch. Rather, it's the beginning of an old snake shedding its skin, he said.

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Tucked quietly into the countryside of Colchester lies Easthorpe — a place many drivers pass without ever realising it was once a village in its own right.

Donald Trump suggested Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death was a matter of having 'got him before he got me' as Israel expanded its attacks in both Iran and Lebanon.

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to introduce 'boil in a bag' funerals, in the biggest change to Britain's burial rules since cremation was introduced in 1885.

The road was closed for hours

The relatives living in Ilford in east London, who cashed in on Bounce Back Loans during the pandemic, have now been sentenced - including two immediate jail terms.

Vulnerable citizens targeted by criminals purporting to represent fake police crisis department

Scammers targeted Dubai citizens mere hours after missiles struck the city, attempting to gain access to their bank accounts, police have warned.…

Natasha Manners and Xavier Bhoyroo beat 11 other pairs in 'Château DIY: Win The Dream' to get the keys to a 'magnifique', six-bedroom, 18th century residence in rural Normandy.

It comes after last month it was revealed that the star had quit her role on the show. The actress was said to have left show bosses 'gutted' when she told them her decision late last year.

Davidson was heard shouting the N-word as Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the first prize of the night for special visual effects at London's Royal Festive Hall last month.

The Loose Women star, 65, appeared on the latest episode of Rylan On Saturday (28 February 2026) and reflected on the 'dark days' in the wake of their 'devastating' divorce.

Baroness Eluned Morgan launched her desperate bid to cling onto power in Cardiff Bay today, running under a banner of 'a new chapter for Wales' for the party that has run the country for 27 years.

The Office cast reunited at Sunday night's Actor Awards, reminiscing about their years together on the hit show.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei left behind a corrupt and repressive legacy, following his assassination on February 28. 

Pupils in Essex are discovering the outcome of their secondary school applications today, with 97 per cent offered places at preferred schools.

Pupils in Essex are discovering the outcome of their secondary school applications today, with 97 per cent offered places at preferred schools.

The American actress-turned-wellness guru, 53, made her first appearance at the Actor Awards in 26 years on Sunday night in LA.

Katie Price has revealed that she doesn't know her husband Lee Andrews' age - weeks on from their whirlwind marriage.