The So What Era: What Did We Actually Get for This?

Usage-based pricing turned enterprise AI from a predictable cost into a CFO’s nightmare. This episode unpacks the bill shock hitting leadership teams when adoption metrics collide with actual spend. Rob Saltrese and Jim Blizzard reveal why token counts don’t equal value, how to baseline what AI is really doing versus what executives believe it’s doing, and who should own AI strategy once the honeymoon ends. Essential listening for anyone reconciling AI promises with budget reality.

For two years, enterprise AI was measured by adoption: licenses issued, seats activated, tools rolled out. Then usage-based pricing arrived, the same work started costing several times more, and the bill arrived on a CFO’s desk with one question attached: so what did we actually get for this?

In this episode, Paul Brzozowski is joined by Rob Saltrese, Co-Founder of Lyra Labs, and Jim Blizzard, Principal and Executive Consultant at Origamic Solutions. Jim calls himself the office whisperer, because he works the people side of AI, not the wiring. They cover the bill shock hitting leadership teams, why adoption numbers are not the same thing as value, how to baseline what AI is actually doing against what leaders believe it is doing, token maxing versus spending wisely, and who should own AI inside an enterprise once the honeymoon period ends.

Originally published on Future of Agentic.