20
Oct
Software and AI disruption- the shifting sands of SaaS
- With software valuations under pressure, how are GPs timing exits and adjusting return expectations?
- Which software business models are most resilient- or at risk- of AI disruption, and where are GPs finding pockets of opportunity?
- What questions are LPs asking about the sector and are they still willing to make new commitments?
- What comes next as AI reshapes the sector, and how can managers use it as a long-term competitive advantage?
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SpeakersRachel Stone Charlottesville Bureau Chief Mergermarket
Taylor Beaupain Managing Partner K1 Investment Management
Kevin Burke Partner and Head of Strategy Sapphire Ventures
Casey Clinkenbeard Principal, Product & Technology Strattam Capital
Carl Press Partner Thoma Bravo
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Taylor Beaupain | Managing Partner
Taylor Beaupain is a Managing Partner at K1 Investment Management and oversees the Firm’s Execution function and is a member of K1’s Investment Committee and Valuation Committee.
Mr. Beaupain is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he received an MBA and was a Dean’s Scholar, and of Washington and Lee University, where he received a BS in Business Administration, summa cum laude.
Mr. Beaupain has served as a director of numerous companies, serves on the board of the UCLA Anderson Fink Center for Finance & Investments and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).
Kevin is a Partner and Head of Strategy for Sapphire Ventures, where he is responsible for advising the investment teams, portfolio companies, and limited partners on key market trends and dynamics shaping the ecosystem, particularly in the areas of enterprise, SaaS, and artificial intelligence. Kevin authors research pieces and monthly market memos recognized by media and key industry influencers that covers VC investment activity, AI and tech trends impacting the enterprise software market. He works across all Sapphire strategies to help the firm best execute against current opportunities, while also identifying and evaluating future focus areas.
Prior to joining Sapphire, Kevin spent 7.5 years in Corporate Strategy at Microsoft where he was a Senior Director and member of the strategy leadership team. In this role, Kevin worked directly with Microsoft’s Leadership Team on the company’s most critical strategic growth initiatives, with work that touched both existing and new product categories, go-to-market, M&A, and partnerships. Prior to Microsoft, Kevin worked at Booz & Company in the firm’s Technology, Media, and Telecom practice where he consulted for several Fortune 100 technology clients in the software and ecommerce categories, and also was selected as one of the 3 members of the inaugural class of the Katzenbach Center’s Leadership Program.
Kevin is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas-Austin, as well as of Emory University, where he majored in Economics. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his beautiful wife Cassie and their two children, Olivia and Owen.
Casey Clinkenbeard joined Strattam Capital in 2025 as Principal, Product & Technology, where he focuses on portfolio company product, technology and AI execution to drive value creation.
Previously, Casey was Head of Product and Engineering at Noonlight, an API-first emergency response platform and subsidiary of Alarm.com. Prior to Noonlight, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product at Soluta, a Riverside-backed insurtech company. Earlier in his career, Casey was a founding engineer at HotSchedules and spent nearly two decades with the business as it scaled through multiple private equity transitions, ultimately serving as SVP of Product Management at Fourth following the merger.
Casey earned a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Austin, Texas.
Carl Press is a Partner on the Explore team at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, he joined the firm in 2015. Carl is responsible for founding and co-leading the firm’s Explore platform, which focuses on investing in high-growth, middle-market software and technology companies. GrowthCap named Carl to its list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors for 2021. Prior to Thoma Bravo, he was a technology investor at HighBar Partners, an Associate in the Special Situations Group at Oaktree Capital Management, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at SLS Preschool. Carl holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar, and a BS, with honors, in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.