Measuring the Business Value of AI Agents

Falling token prices alone cannot determine the actual value AI creates. Leaders should not simply look at cost, but focus on 'useful work per dollar'—the number of tasks completed, time saved, and improved decision-making.

The key strategies for efficient AI investment are as follows.

• Secure visibility into usage and spending: Organizations need to clearly understand who is performing what tasks using which models. Through management tools like ChatGPT Work, they should analyze demand and patterns by workflow, going beyond simple credit consumption.
• Outcome-focused ROI evaluation: The cheapest model is not always the most economical. Model efficiency should be evaluated based on 'cost per accepted outcome', which includes the model's performance, number of retries, and the cost of human review.
• Build governance before scaling: As AI agents access enterprise systems and perform tasks, governance as an operating layer—determining which tools and context can be used, and whose approval is required at high-risk steps—is essential.