The price of light.
- 01
Fix the checkout and forms that AI agents are already trying to use
Agents are arriving at the bottom of the funnel, where a form that confuses a machine now costs the same order as one that confuses a person.
Quantum Metric via GlobeNewswire
- 02
Give every AI agent project an executive owner and a date to reach production
Agent programs are stalling on ownership and permission, not on the technology, and stalled pilots keep spending money.
HFS Research
- 03
Measure whether staff understand the AI plan, not only whether they use the tools
Usage numbers can look excellent while the team is untrained on safe use and unsure of its own place in the plan.
Brunswick Review
- 04
Expect media buying decisions to move up to the CFO and procurement
When finance and procurement sit in the media decision, the case for spend has to be made in the language of the P&L.
The Trade Desk
- 05
Document how personal data shapes the prices and offers your customers see
Personalization that touches price is moving from a growth tactic to a disclosure question.
Hunton Andrews Kurth, Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Blog
- 06
Plan 2027 pricing and budgets for inflation that is not easing
Higher prices and the prospect of higher rates change both what marketing costs and how long buyers take to say yes.
CNBC
Adoption is easy to count; what it produced is harder, and that is the number that matters.
This week's news keeps separating activity from results: agents visiting sites but failing at checkout, agent pilots that consume budget without reaching production, employees using AI daily without a clear policy or plan, and media decisions moving to executives who ask what the spend returned. The through-line for a marketing leader matches today's Featured: the inputs are getting cheaper and more plentiful, so the advantage goes to the team that can show what each one bought.
The Price of Light
Since July the average price of AI inference has fallen by a third, and the median company's AI bill has risen every month. Cheaper fuel buys more burning, not a smaller bill. The number that matters is the price of the work, and most companies cannot yet read it.
Read the full article →