User Research SaaS M&A: Why Execution Tools and Infrastructure Are Being Priced the Same — and Shouldn’t Be
The Maze 2026 Future of User Research Report reveals a critical “great bifurcation” in the SaaS market: while AI is rapidly commoditizing execution-layer tools like transcription and synthesis, research infrastructure is becoming a strategically irreplaceable corporate asset. As organizational authority for research triples, M&A buyers and founders must distinguish between tools that simply offer speed and platforms that serve as “organizational memory” embedded in high-stakes decision cycles. This analysis provides a diagnostic framework for valuing these two fundamentally different types of assets in the current deal-making landscape.
