Over the past year, I’ve spent a lot of time talking with founders who are seeing something that doesn’t quite line up with their expectations. Their product is still good. In many cases it is better than it was a year ago. Customers still rely on it. And yet, deals are slower, expansions are harder, and in some cases seats are quietly disappearing.

It’s easy to interpret that as a signal that something is breaking in SaaS. That the model is weakening or that demand is softening.

What I’m seeing points to something much simpler and much more structural. The budget hasn’t grown, but the priority has changed.