CFOs Struggle with AI Billing Chaos — Usage-Based SaaS Invoices Look Like Utility Bills
PYMNTS·medium signal
As SaaS shifts to usage-based billing, enterprise CFOs face opaque, hard-to-forecast expenses. AI invoices now resemble utility bills — fluctuating with tokens, model calls, and agent actions rather than predictable per-seat charges. IDC projects pure seat-based pricing obsolete by 2028, with ~70% of vendors shifting to consumption, results, or capability-based models. AI product companies using old per-seat pricing saw gross margins ~40% lower than those on usage/outcome pricing. **Builder oppo