Veeva’s Long Awaited Share Repurchase Plan – Buyback Wednesdays

In today’s world, AI is no longer just enhancing software; it is perceived as upending the very foundations of the Software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry. In just twenty-four months, we have seen the first wave of casualties. Chegg (CHGG) admitted ChatGPT was eroding its core growth, Stack Overflow watched engagement dip as developers turned to LLMs, and even Duolingo (DUOL) restructured its workforce as AI moved from a “feature” to the “creator.”

I have been learning Spanish through Duolingo for nearly two years and have a score of 45, which corresponds to a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) level of A2 (Elementary). At my current pace, I might get to the score of 160, which will correspond to a CEFR level of C2 (Proficiency) in four to five years. Spending six to seven years to learn a single language is a significant commitment.

In contrast, Apple AirPods’ live translation feature is supposed to be capable of translating nine languages in real time. Two people wearing AirPods could potentially hold a conversation without knowing a single word of the other’s language. In this context, Duolingo losing more than half of its value over the last year through a 56% plunge in its stock price, starts to make sense.

For traditional Horizontal SaaS models built on generic workflows and per-seat pricing, AI is an existential threat. If a bot can perform the task, why pay for the seat? However, in the world of Vertical SaaS, the story is different. Success here is not just about code; it’s about deep, regulatory, and institutional knowledge moats that AI can’t scrape from the internet.

This brings us to Veeva Systems (VEEV) – the backbone of the life sciences industry. As the broader software market faces a reimagining of labor and value, Veeva is positioning itself not just to survive the disruption, but to become the essential “AI + Knowledge” engine for the world’s most complex pharmaceutical workflows.

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