At SaaStr AI, chief product officers from Harvey, Glean, and Rubrik shared insights on the challenges of shipping category-winning software agents, emphasizing the urgency to deliver products that customers will pay for. The discussion highlighted how the role of CPO has evolved from managing feature roadmaps to rapidly deploying reliable AI agents, with Atlassian’s recent AI monetization boosting its stock by about a third in a day, according to saastr.com.
The panel included Anneka Gupta of Rubrik, Emrecan Dogan of Glean, and Anique Drumright of Harvey, who each sell to distinct buyer groups—security teams, context layer users, and law firm partners, respectively. They agreed that building an agent is effectively a second build of the entire product, which explains frequent delays. Their approach involves creating agents that propose plans for human approval or editing, ensuring that early agents do not cause errors, as reported by saastr.com.
This shift reflects broader market pressures where product leaders must prioritize shipping functional AI agents quickly to meet customer demands. The emphasis on agent roadmaps over mere output signals a change in how product success is measured in B2B SaaS. The discussion also underscored the complexity of integrating AI agents into existing workflows, highlighting the need for cautious rollout strategies in sectors like security and legal services, per saastr.com.
The insights from these CPOs come as the SaaS industry accelerates AI adoption, with Atlassian’s stock surge marking a notable milestone. The next major SaaStr event is scheduled for early 2027, where further developments in AI agent deployment are expected to be showcased, saastr.com noted.