AI对SaaS的影响：企业应用、集成策略与网络安全新前沿研究报告

Contents Editorial Q&AOutlookAbout & Disclaimers 3Executive Summary 4Market Trends 14Spotlight: Cybersecurityin an AI-Enabled World As financial advisory services leader forForvis Mazars Group in France, Firas alsoForvis Mazars GroupParis, France PartnerForvis Mazars USSan Jose, CA, U.S.Ricardo is national industry leader fortechnology, software, and devices at Forvis PartnerForvis Mazars USCharlotte, NC, U.S.Steven has more than 18 years of publicaccounting experience, focusing on buy- PartnerForvis Mazars GroupParis, FranceLydia is head of capital markets and accountingadvisory at Forvis Mazars Group, where she Mazars US. He focuses on delivering auditservices to PE-backed and publicly tradedtech companies. oversees global transaction services activities,with experience in new technologies andother key sectors. advises clients on capital markets transactions,including IPOs and bond issuances. side and sell-side due diligence for clientsacross a variety of industries. Executive Summary The H1 2025 report from Forvis Mazars forecast sustained—andThe second edition of the State of SaaS report from Forvis Mazars looks back on private equity (PE) dealmaking trends across the SaaSlandscape, developments in the technology initial public offering (IPO) market, and the structural forces shaping capital allocation decisionsover the latter half of 2025 and looking ahead to 2026. The report is intended to help business leaders and investors contextualize recentmarket activity, extract lessons from the current cycle, and strengthen exit-readiness strategies in an increasingly selective environment.investment momentum began to slow toward the latter half of theLooking ahead to 2026, two overarching factors are expected potentially accelerated—global SaaS PE momentum by year-end,as investors adapted to macroeconomic volatility and deployedlong-standing dry powder. This activity reflected both renewedappetite for high-growth opportunities and mounting pressureto generate distributions for limited partners (LPs) that hadoverallocated to private markets during the 2021 cycle.Findings from the H2 2025 edition confirm these projections.Global SaaS PE dealmaking expanded further through the end of year. Global SaaS PE transaction volumes slackened quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) throughout 2025 while invested capital amountsremained elevated, signaling greater capital concentration.This rebound was accompanied by improving liquidity outcomes,as private-market-backed SaaS companies achieved materiallyto shape the next phase of SaaS investing:The cost of capitalDebt-fueled, multibillion-dollar leveraged buyouts have re-emerged in North America, supported by artificial-intelligence- The ability to service it driven (AI-driven) growth expectations and renewed confidencein operating leverage. As pandemic-era dry powder convergeswith AI-enabled value creation, PE activity in SaaS has remainedresilient. However, rising borrower stress and a higher neutral-interest-rate environment are likely to test business modeldurability, narrowing the margin for execution error andelevating the importance of cash flow resilience insustaining long-term returns. higher exit values. However, exit readiness no longer culminatesat an initial acquisition or public listing. The continued expansionof the PE asset class has driven record levels of take-privateactivity as firms move up the value chain in search of value-creation opportunities among the industry’s largest incumbents.In this environment, exit readiness has become a continuousrequirement that necessitates flexibility rather than a milestonetied to a single liquidity event. 2025, with firms closing 697 more transactions and deployingan additional $109 billion in capital since H1 2025. In fact, 2025year-end transaction volumes were the highest annual total ina decade, and capital deployment momentum has begun tomirror 2021 and 2022 highs. However, although year-end figuresappeared optimistic relative to historical investment activity, PE Market Trends This section delves into the trends that shaped global PE dealmaking and exit outcomes inthe SaaS industry by the end of 2025 and extracts forward-looking insights on how thesetrends will continue to shape deal activity in 2026 and beyond.This report focuses on three high-level areas of analysis: Capital flowsLiquidity outcomes The AI revolution is but one core element that has shaped 2025 and what is to come in 2026. Thus, this edition’s spotlight focuses on the opportunities that lie in the cybersecurity space as the AI revolution matures from model-building to mass deployment acrossthe enterprise and consumer sectors, bringing a greater sense of urgency overthe protection of proprietary and private data. Ultimately, the analysis gleanedfrom this report is intended to enable business leaders and investors inthe SaaS industry to transform a retrospective, data-driven narrativeinto actionable insights that will prepare them f