How should businesses price AI-powered communications services? And are customers really ready to pay based on what they consume?

In this episode of Cavell Cloud Conversations, Finbarr Begley and Patrick Watson dive into one of the biggest commercial questions facing the communications industry: the shift from traditional subscription licensing towards consumption-based and, potentially, outcome-based pricing.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded across UCaaS, CCaaS and business communications, the economics of delivering these services are changing. From pay-as-you-go and token-based models to pricing based on specific workloads, providers may need to offer customers far more flexibility in how they pay.

But there is a problem. While consumption-based pricing can create greater transparency and closer alignment between usage and cost, Cavell’s research suggests customers remain lukewarm or confused about the model.

Finbarr and Patrick explore whether the communications industry is ready for another major pricing shift, what providers need to consider around margins and infrastructure, and why AI could ultimately push the market beyond consumption-based pricing altogether.

They also discuss the rise of outcome-based pricing, where customers pay for results rather than simply usage, and whether this could become the next major commercial model for AI services.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why consumption-based pricing is becoming increasingly important for AI services
• The different models emerging, from pay-as-you-go to token-based pricing
• Whether customers actually want consumption-based billing
• The challenges providers face around margins, compute and infrastructure costs
• Why the communications industry has historically been slow to embrace new pricing models
• How AI could create more flexible and transparent commercial relationships
• The potential shift from consumption-based to outcome-based pricing
• Why trust could be the deciding factor in how AI services are sold

The big question: If customers don’t want to pay for AI simply based on how much they use it, could the future be paying for the outcome instead?

Listen now to the latest episode of Cavell Cloud Conversations.