AI Tokenisation Pricing Will Outweigh Human Effort in the Future, Says Hexaware’s Siddharth Dhar

Why It Matters

The shift to token‑based AI pricing redefines cost structures for enterprise IT services, giving firms a scalable way to monetize AI while managing labor expenses. It positions Hexaware to capture market share as customers demand flexible, outcome‑driven AI solutions.

Key Takeaways

• Agentverse platform aggregates 600+ AI agents for customers
• Pricing combines headcount rates with per‑token AI usage
• Token costs expected to surpass human labor over time
• Key use cases: software dev, IT ops, legal, chatbots
• Hexaware sees market share growth despite potential cannibalisation

Pulse Analysis

The enterprise software market is witnessing a fundamental pricing evolution as AI moves from a research curiosity to a billable commodity. Tokenisation—charging per unit of processed data or inference—mirrors cloud compute billing and offers granular cost visibility. This model aligns vendor revenue with actual AI consumption, reducing the reliance on opaque, labor‑heavy contracts. Companies that adopt token‑based pricing can better forecast expenses, scale AI workloads efficiently, and pass savings onto end‑users, accelerating broader AI adoption across industries.

Hexaware’s Agentverse platform exemplifies this transition. By consolidating more than 600 AI agents into a single marketplace, the firm enables clients to plug in ready‑made solutions for software development, IT operations, legal document review, and intelligent chatbots. The hybrid pricing framework assigns a traditional hourly rate to human‑in‑the‑loop activities while charging a per‑token fee for every AI inference. This dual‑track approach not only reflects the true cost of AI execution but also incentivizes customers to automate repetitive tasks, driving measurable productivity gains that appear on both the top and bottom lines.

For the workforce, the token‑centric model signals a shift toward augmentation rather than replacement. As AI agents become more capable, human effort will focus on higher‑value oversight, design, and exception handling, potentially flattening hiring curves while extracting more output from existing staff. Hexaware’s confidence in market share expansion—despite acknowledging possible revenue cannibalisation—highlights a strategic bet on early‑mover advantage. Firms that master token‑based AI pricing can differentiate themselves, capture new revenue streams, and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving agentic economy.