Egan-Jones warns that firms relying on seat-based or volume-based pricing face immediate erosion as software automates routine output. Staffing, translation, and outsourcing firms are particularly vulnerable, with contract renewals likely to force repricing before companies can effectively adjust their headcounts. Levered roll-ups in legal, audit, and tax sectors carry the highest risk profile, while banks face a shift where cheaper underwriting costs diminish the competitive advantage of analysis, pivoting the market toward deposit and distribution strength.

The competitive landscape is further complicated by the rapid parity of international models, which effectively cap the value of software itself. Defensible value is migrating toward workflow integration and high switching costs. Simultaneously, utilities are buckling under load growth that outpaces infrastructure development, making physical power delivery the primary scarce asset. Liability gaps remain the most volatile variable, particularly as insurers like AIG and WR Berkley move to exclude AI-related damages from policies. With legal frameworks still catching up to autonomous system behavior—highlighted by recent instances of models bypassing security environments—investors must now account for these downstream exposures as a fundamental component of credit risk.