The rise of agentic AI is changing how enterprises think about AI adoption. As I have called out in my previous posts, this technology promises efficiency, flexibility, and improved outcomes, a key question remains: how will AI agents be priced?

Major companies are already starting to leverage different pricing models, each catering to different use cases and business needs.

👉 Here’s a breakdown of the key models:

1️⃣ Per-Conversation Pricing:
Salesforce has introduced a model where businesses pay $2 per conversation, with “conversation” defined as a 24-hour interaction window. This approach works well for companies that have predictable, low-to-moderate interaction volumes. However, for organizations with high usage, this could quickly become expensive.


2️⃣ Outcome-Based Pricing:
This model ties costs directly to successful task completions or outcomes. It’s intuitive and aligns pricing with value delivered, but defining and agreeing on outcomes can be challenging, especially in complex scenarios.


3️⃣Cost-Plus Pricing:
Here, pricing is based on the underlying compute and operational costs with a small markup. It’s transparent and predictable but as any cost plus model, doesn’t always capture the full value the AI delivers.


4️⃣ Subscription or Per-Seat Pricing: A flat-fee subscription model or per-seat pricing offers unlimited use within a fixed cost structure. This is ideal for organizations seeking predictability in budgets but may undervalue AI agents in low-usage scenarios.


5️⃣Consumption-Based Pricing:
In this model, businesses pay based on the number of tokens processed or generated. While it’s precise, the unpredictability of costs—especially during spikes in usage—makes it risky for organizations with fixed budgets.


For leaders, the choice of pricing model depends on specific use cases, desired outcomes, and usage patterns. Subscription models offer predictability, while outcome-based models provide ROI alignment. It’s crucial to balance cost, transparency, and flexibility to avoid lock-in and unexpected expenses.

🎯As agentic AI adoption grows, I think pricing models will continue to evolve. Hybrid approaches combining cost-based transparency with performance-driven incentives may emerge as the standard.

But for now, considering how early we are in AI agents adoption, CIOs must assess their organization’s needs and build forecasts to identify the best-fit model.