The AI spending spree is over. Here are 5 steps to prepare for the next wave of consumption

Date:
Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:09:30 +0000

Description:
Learn how visibility, governance and accountability can help enterprises
scale AI responsibly.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For the last two years, many organizations have treated AI adoption as the goal. The more users, tools and experiments, the better. Today, leaders are no longer measuring success by adoption alone. They are asking what it costs, where it creates value and whether the business can afford to scale it responsibly.

That is the next chapter of AI and technology spend management. The companies that thrive in this environment won't necessarily be the ones consuming the most technology. They will be the ones that can connect technology
consumption to measurable business value. Becky Trevino Social Links Navigation

Chief Product Officer at Flexera. This shift from maximizing usage to maximizing value, what I call valuemaxxing, is becoming a defining challenge for technology leaders. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

Executives who take these five steps now will be prepared for a future where technology consumption and business value must be measured together: 1. Gain real visibility across the full technology stack Organizations cannot manage what they cannot see. This becomes far more urgent when costs are variable, distributed and constantly changing. You may like Tokenmaxxing: Why AI consumption needs control Why enterprise AI is forcing a rethink in cost control The six-stage journey: Why 62% of organizations are stuck below the
AI value line

Todays technology consumption does not sit neatly in one budget or one
system. It spans SaaS applications, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, AI models, agents and infrastructure. AI adds another layer of complexity
because spend can show up through tokens, credits, model usage, GPU consumption, data movement and AI-enabled applications.

With only 31% of organizations reporting visibility into AI software today
and 59% reporting increased wasted AI spend year over year, gaining a single source of truth across the technology stack has never been more important.
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Without a complete view of technology consumption, organizations are left making decisions with fragmented information. Visibility isn't simply about controlling costs; it's about understanding where investment is delivering value and where spend is wasted. 2. Build a governance model for consumption Many organizations encouraged broad AI experimentation, only to later
discover that usage had outpaced oversight. Having an internal governance framework in place is critical to any companys success. Governance gives
teams the guardrails they need to scale responsibly.

For AI in particular, leaders need to move from use more to use better. Its figuring out whether AI is improving cycle time, customer experience , operational efficiency, revenue growth, or another important business metric. What to read next The hidden tax on your AI ambitions Why scaling AI requires a new economic strategy The agent problem nobody budgeted for

To guide the process, increasingly large enterprises (85%) are appointing dedicated teams or senior leaders for AI and tech governance to enable visibility, control, and cross-team collaboration. Its vital for companies to prevent AI from becoming an uncontrolled cost center. 3. Renegotiate
contracts for flexibility and accountability Technology pricing models are changing rapidly. Long-term fixed agreements may still have a place, but they are becoming harder to manage in environments where usage can shift quickly.

Today, leaders should regularly evaluate vendor agreements to ensure they reflect actual usage patterns and future business needs. This is particularly important as AI providers continue introducing new consumption models and monetization strategies.

Enterprises should expect more pricing complexity, not less. The goal is not simply to negotiate lower costs. It is to create agreements that give the business room to innovate while maintaining control over spend. 4. Align technology, finance and procurement Usage-based costs impact multiple teams. While technology teams drive how much is used, other departments manage the needed oversight, with finance owning the budget impact and procurement handling vendor contracts. Without alignment, organizations can easily lose control of spending.

The organizations that manage consumption well will build a shared view of usage, cost and value. They establish common metrics, clear accountability, and regular collaboration across departments.

When teams work from the same data and the same definition of value, those decisions become more intentional and avoid costly surprises. 5.Use AI to
move optimization from reactive to continuous Use AI tools to help manage the growing complexity of technology consumption itself.

Optimization cannot remain a periodic budget exercise. By the time a cost issue appears in a report, usage may have already shifted again.

AI can help teams detect unusual usage patterns, surface waste, forecast demand, and support smarter planning across teams. But AI-driven optimization must be connected to human-defined goals. The objective is to help teams make better decisions faster, with clearer insight into what is being used, what
it costs and where it creates value. Turning tech consumption into value The next phase of enterprise AI will look very different from the first. For the last several years, the focus was on experimentation and adoption. The future belongs to organizations that can demonstrate accountability, governance, and value.

AI has accelerated the industry's shift toward consumption-based technology models, introducing new economic challenges alongside new opportunities. As organizations continue scaling AI, understanding the relationship between usage, cost, and business impact will become a critical competitive
advantage.

The AI adoption spree is ending. What comes next is more disciplined visibility, governance, and financial accountability, defining who can successfully scale innovation and who gets overwhelmed by the bill. We've featured the best IT automation software. This article was produced as part
of TechRadar Pro Perspectives , our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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