December brought three wildly different pricing models from major vendors. Salesforce charges $2 per conversation, plus separate per-lead fees and credit systems. Microsoft bills $4 per hour. Intercom wants $0.99 per resolution.
This isn't healthy experimentation. When vendors can't agree on the unit of value, it signals deeper confusion about where margins live once capabilities commoditize. Conversation pricing bets on volume. Outcome pricing bets on measurable results. Credit systems hedge everything.
We think the next six months test these models brutally. Enterprises avoid agents not because of capabilities but because of unpredictable spend. Research shows customers declining free credits from fear of budget exposure. Whichever structure lets a CFO forecast February costs in December wins.