He expects that this new era will be unpopular with user companies: “For CIOs and other executives who make strategic decisions and approve budgets, the prospect of additional usage-based fees could be a nuisance. Also because it means closely monitoring AI usage and spending. After all, most companies are currently looking for ways to reduce costs.”
For Scott Bickley, Advisory Fellow at Info-Tech Research Group, ServiceNow’s strategy is similar to that of SAP and Salesforce: “In addition to the basic license, the data and AI layer is billed based on consumption. ServiceNow now differentiates between different ‘tiers’ of AI capabilities. Each tier includes a certain level of functionality and – I’m sure – its own pricing structure.”
This probably won’t make CFOs happy, says Bickley, warning: “Financial decision-makers are not fans of fluctuating prices or unforeseen expenses. If an autonomous agent gets caught in a retry loop and uses up assist credits with every iteration, that could potentially be really expensive.”
