While the broader SaaS sector faced another rough trading session, certain plays managed to hold their ground or even post modest gains—AXON, TOST, IOT, and TTAN stayed relatively resilient. Worth examining why.

These names share some common defensive traits. First, they've built deep vertical integration into their operations, meaning they control multiple layers of their value chains. Second, there's genuine fintech-hardware synthesis happening—they're not purely software plays that can be commoditized overnight. And crucially, their core user experiences involve human relationships and context that large language models struggle to replicate at scale.

The AI narrative doesn't have to be a death sentence for these businesses. In fact, it could become a tailwind if deployed thoughtfully—augmenting their existing advantages rather than automating them away. At worst, AI becomes background noise rather than an existential threat.

Caveat: valuations remain stretched across the board.