Dan Ives Bets AI Will Elevate Enterprise Software, Calling It a Generational Buy

Dan Ives argues the AI shift will augment, not displace, enterprise software, making the current selloff in software stocks (e.g., Salesforce down ~28% YTD with AI ARR at $900M, ServiceNow down ~30%, Microsoft down ~17%) a potential mispricing. He cites Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs supporting the AI growth thesis and notes Salesforce trades around 14x forward earnings with strong AI momentum; the bear case is AI could commoditize software, while the bull case depends on AI expanding the software TAM. Ives says he’s a buyer but would become more aggressive if MSFT falls into the low- to mid-$300s (forward P/E mid-teens).