The debate over whether AI might replace traditional enterprise apps such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP, and Workday often ignores a more likely near-term scenario: that AI will stop some customers increasing their spending on those apps. Brian Spanswick, chief information officer at data security firm Cohesity, which generates more than $2 billion in revenue a year, said a large chunk of the budget for his 400-person IT department goes towards subscriptions to apps that employees use to automate business processes such as tracking and billing customers or auditing how employees are using company devices. Based on early tests, Spanswick believes he can cut spending on traditional apps’ automation tools—often sold as add-ons to the core products—in half by using newfangled AI agents.