A new whitepaper from Art of Procurement (AOP) and Tropic explores how procurement can bring greater commercial discipline to AI spending without slowing innovation or restricting experimentation.
From Experimentation to Spend Discipline: Managing Token-Based Spend examines the challenges organisations face as they expand AI use and move beyond isolated trials.
“As organisations embrace AI, token consumption models have introduced a new category of spend that is decentralised, usage-based and difficult to forecast,” said AOP.
“Without the right visibility and controls, costs can escalate long before anyone understands where they’re coming from or even who owns them.”
The whitepaper explores how procurement can respond to this by developing an effective AI category strategy and extending its focus beyond managing individual software contracts.
It covers why AI token spend requires a different approach from conventional software procurement, along with ways organisations can improve visibility into consumption patterns before costs escalate.
Governance is another key focus, with the paper looking at practical ways procurement can support innovation while introducing greater accountability and financial discipline.
This includes working across the business to create a clearer view of how AI is being used and bringing procurement, technology, finance and other stakeholders together around ownership and oversight.
AOP and Tropic also examine the commercial considerations around AI contracts and consumption-based pricing, revealing procurement teams may need to think differently about forecasting, pricing structures, consumption commitments and contractual flexibility.
