The Pricing Shift Reshaping Enterprise AI Spend - with Adam Mansfield of UpperEdge

AI is triggering a seismic shift in enterprise software pricing, moving from predictable seat-based models to complex hybrid and consumption-based systems that make budgeting nearly impossible. Adam Mansfield of UpperEdge warns that vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, and OpenAI are structuring deals to maximize their own revenue growth—leveraging the 'flywheel effect' and 'hockey stick' curves—while shifting all financial risk onto customers. The result? Companies can face sudden, unforecasted bills of $50,000 to $100,000 per month when usage spikes, often with no refunds or carryover credits. What’s worse, vendors are still figuring out their own pricing models in real time, leaving buyers in the dark. The solution isn’t more negotiation tactics—it’s a strategic, coordinated pre-negotiation campaign. Leaders must proactively engage vendors at the C-suite level *before* any deal, demanding transparency on forecasting, overage costs, and ROI timelines. By aligning IT, business, and procurement teams to send a unified message, executives can force vendors to answer hard questions early, expose their weaknesses, and build leverage long before the contract is on the table. The real danger isn’t AI adoption—it’s adopting AI without a plan to control its cost.