The Pricing Split: Why Core Software and AI Can't Share One Commercial Model
Futurum Group, Monday, August 17th, 2026
Futurum finds buyers reject per-seat pricing for core software but demand it for AI, forcing vendors to split architectures.
Futurum Group analyst Keith Kirkpatrick examines enterprise software pricing in the AI era. Buyer data cuts against the prevailing consensus that per-seat pricing is dead: most current commentary treats seat-based models as obsolete, but the research shows a more complicated picture.
Buyers reject per-seat pricing for core software while demanding it for AI capabilities, where predictability matters more than efficiency.
The report argues vendors therefore cannot run one commercial model across both. It concludes vendors must split their pricing architectures to stay competitive rather than converging on a single approach.