The Motley Fool and Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, believe that software, as we know it, is dying a quick death.
What's replacing it is “AI's Third Wave” and the best way to profit from it is with one specific AI Agent Stock.
The Teaser
Gartner recently announced it's top tech trend for the year ahead.
We don't review Motley Fool teasers often, but when we do, it usually has something or other to do with artificial intelligence.
Apple's AI “Trojan Horse” and “AI Disruption Playbook” Stocks, are just a few examples.
The international business consultancy, Gartner, says “technology leaders face a pivotal year in 2026, where disruption, innovation, and risk are expanding at unprecedented speed.”
Because of this, it has named AI Super Computer Platforms it's top tech trend for 2026.
What are such contraptions you ask?
Well, the way they explain it “They integrate CPUs, GPUs, AI ASICs, neuromorphic and alternative computing paradigms, enabling organizations to orchestrate complex workloads while unlocking new levels of performance, efficiency and innovation.”
This sounds like consultant speak for AI agents.
In plain English, AI agents are capable of autonomously handling complex tasks that previously required entire teams of skilled professionals to pull off.
If we go back and cross-reference this with Gartner's think piece, it checks out:
AI platforms give organizations a practical way to automate complex business processes, upskill teams, and create new ways for people and AI agents to work together.
This is what Microsoft's Satya Nadella suggested could be poised to replace traditional Software as a Service (SaaS) applications on an episode of the BG2 podcast.
If history is any indication, SaaS isn't dead, but it will need to adapt. Just like every other industry that met a new technology which changed it forever.
This is what “AI's Third Wave” is all about.
However, some hard questions still remain to be answered, such as what were the first two waves and how do we invest in software's potential successor technology?
The Pitch
All of this info, especially the latter, can be found in a report entitled “Third Wave Unleashed: One Top AI Agent Stock – Plus Six More Stock for the AI Boom.”
It's “free” if we subscribe to The Fool's longstanding Stock Advisor newsletter for $99 for the first year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
AI's Three Waves
The Fool's email didn't contain much information, but it did elaborate, somewhat, on it's central theme, “AI's Third Wave.”
It all started with some good old-fashioned hardware.
Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Random Access Memory (RAM), and storage are the backbone that Large Language Models (LLMs) run on.
They represent the first wave of AI that made generative AI services like ChatGPT possible.
Nvidia, Micron, and others were and continue to be the big winners in this category.
Naturally, software, the thing that the third wave is now supposed to be replacing, was the second wave.
This was all about generative AI services performing or assisting with tasks that typically required human input.
Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Claude all come to mind.
The numbers show, as of the past year, approximately 78% of enterprises are using AI in some facet of their operations.
However, the profitability of such initiatives have been another matter.
According to Axios, 95% of organizations have seen no return on their AI investments, so far.
AI's Third Wave of automation should reverse this.
For example, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas had AI agents that could manage entire supply chains on display.
Then there's AI agents that can handle most HR hiring tasks, such as screening candidates based on pre-set criteria and making initial interview recommendations.
Such automation cuts hours of work down to mere minutes, leading to hundreds and thousands of dollars in cost savings on a daily basis.
If AI's Third Wave delivers, the initial growth estimates of 44% annually through 2030 could be a massive underestimation.
The Motley Fool's analysts have found one company that they believe is perfectly positioned to thrive in AI's Third Wave and we're revealing it here for free.
Revealing The Motley Fool's AI Agent Stock
Although The Fool's email teaser was brief, it did drop a few telling clues about it's third wave pick:
- The company develops AI tools and strategies for over 900 businesses.
- This client list includes Disney, Coca-Cola, and Google, among others.
- It's revenue has grown by 30% annually for the past decade.
Based on what we know, Globant S.A. (NYSE: GLOB) is the pick. Here is what led me to this conclusion.
- As an IT and software development firm, AI-driven solutions and custom strategies are it's bread and butter nowadays.
- Recent quarterly reports indicate that Globant serves nearly 1,000 customers, with Disney being it's single largest client.
- The international IT company's revenue has grown at an annual clip of 28-30% for the past decade.
Beat the market by more than 4-to-1?
The Motley Fool's Stock Advisor newsletter has built quite the track record.
It's beaten the market by 4-to-1 for the past two decades.
So it's the real deal, but has it gotten it right again with it's “AI Third Wave” call?
The nature of AI systems is that they iterate, learning and improving over time through repetition.
All of this repetition should, eventually, lead to full automation, with the AI capable of handling even the most advanced human tasks.
By this logic, any deployment strategy that hastens this automation process is highly sought after.
This is where Globant comes in.
It's strategy of “AI implementations that are both tangible and meaningful“, should continue to drive growth over the next few years.
It's global size, existing case studies, and blue-chip clientele give it a slight competitive advantage, but this soft edge, will ultimately be difficult to defend.
Single digit profit margins and return on equity confirm as much.
However, judging by margins declining over the past nine months, a period during which AI-related projects increased, it appears as though AI implementations require more dedicated resources than other assignments.
So, growth, a relatively clean balance sheet with debt only 2x total cash, and dedicated share repurchases are what Globant has going for it.
Free cash flow generation, margins, and key metrics are all against it, which ultimately weigh heaviest over the long-term.
I don't like Globant at a current P/E of nearly 30x and it would have to get materially cheaper before I take a second look.
Quick Recap & Conclusion
- The Motley Fool believes software is dying a quick death and replacing it is “AI's Third Wave“, with one specific AI Agent Stock at the center of it.
- First came hardware, then software, now AI Agent-led automation is sweeping the corporate landscape.
- The best way to play AI's Third Wave is only revealed inside a report entitled “Third Wave Unleashed: One Top AI Agent Stock – Plus Six More Stock for the AI Boom.” It's “free” if we subscribe to The Fool's Stock Advisor newsletter for $99 for the first year.
- But before you drop some post-Christmas cash, we revealed The Fool's top AI Agent Stock for free as Globant S.A. (NYSE: GLOB).
- Given it's below-average underlying economics and high overall valuation, Globant is more of a trendy play than a great long-term business.
Have you used AI to automate any business or personal tasks? Weigh in below in the comments.