The cost of building software has collapsed to almost nothing. Most agency founders hear that and feel the ground move under them. Scaled founder Simon Penson hears it and sees an opening most will miss.

Simon returns to the Agency Hackers Ibiza Super Summit this September, following his session at the 2025 event. This year he takes on the theme that has run through Scaled’s work all year: the convergence of agencies and SaaS, and what it means for founders who are tired of being valued on EBITDA alone.

His talk is titled Agencies and SaaS Are Converging: How to Turn It Into the Opportunity of a Lifetime.

What is the talk about?

As the cost of building software falls towards zero, pure SaaS loses its edge, because software on its own cannot get close to the customer or actually do the work for them. Agencies can. Simon’s argument is that the agencies that win the agentic age will be the ones that “complete the circle”, owning both the product and the service that implements it, and pairing software-style margins with the productised IP most founders are already sitting on without realising it. It is a session built to turn this year’s uncertainty into a plan.

What you’ll learn

  • Why service, not software, is positioned to win the agentic age
  • The productisable IP already sitting in your business 
  • How one agency went from 70 people to 9 for the same output
  • Complete the circle: own the product and the implementation
  • How to be valued on ARR rather than EBITDA

When and where

Simon’s session runs at 10.45am on Wednesday 23 September 2026 and lasts 45 minutes, with the day opening at 9.30am at the Ibiza Gran Hotel. It is his second year speaking at the summit, which brings together around 200 agency founders and leaders for two days of talks, workshops and networking.

The 2026 summit has now sold out, so if you have your place, we look forward to seeing you on the island. You can find Simon’s session and the full line-up on the Ibiza Super Summit speakers page.

Want a head start before the session? Read our piece on the convergence of services and software for the thinking behind the talk.