Hi there,

The pitch for enterprise AI has been about what it can do. Now the bills are starting to arrive, and software makers, startups and their customers are all working out who pays for what.

The Information’s reporters talk to the executives, consultants and CIOs deciding what AI is worth. Subscribe for $299 and save 25% on your first year to see where AI budgets and software pricing are heading.

Here are five stories on enterprise AI’s rising costs that we’ve reported in recent weeks.

Software makers put a price on AI agents

Salesforce plans to make companies register the outside AI agents they use inside its apps as soon as next month. Customers are bracing for new fees to use tools like Claude, and consultants say some are already rethinking how they use it.

Salesforce has also told customers a browser is optional, and it is happy to let Claude do the work. Figma is betting on the opposite. Salesforce and Figma’s opposing bets show what each stands to lose if AI chatbots become the way people use software.

Companies start rationing AI

Meanwhile, the companies footing those bills are struggling to show what they get back. A new Wharton study helps explain why companies can’t prove AI pays off, and what managers are measuring instead.

Cognition, the startup behind the AI coding agent Devin, has an exclusive on one answer: limiting tokenmaxxing to efficient engineers. How it decides who earns more room, and why a company that charges by usage wants customers to use less, is the interesting part.

Security for AI agents draws big offers

Not every AI cost is being questioned. Datadog is back at the table for a cloud security startup that watches over AI agents, after talks fell apart last year. Datadog’s bid for Upwind raises a question about what a company in this corner of the market is worth.

The common thread: AI is no longer a free experiment. Software makers are looking for ways to charge for it, vendors are teaching customers to use less of it, and buyers are still looking for proof it pays off.

Before it’s everywhere, it’s in The Information. Subscribe for $299 and save 25% on your first year for reporting on enterprise software, AI and the deals behind them.