Half of all workers now use AI on the job. Companies are deploying it everywhere, as fast as they can. And a growing number of executives are raising the same alarm: we're spending massively on AI, and we can't prove it's worth it. Some of the biggest corporations on the planet burned through their entire annual AI budget in a matter of months. Others started revoking licenses. Because nobody could connect the spending to actual output. The reason? An obscure unit most people have never thought about — the token — is quietly becoming the most important metric in the modern economy. In this episode, we explain what a token actually is, why the era of flat-fee AI subscriptions is ending, and why moving to usage-based pricing doesn't automatically solve the problem. We also look at the companies that have already cracked the code — including one that tripled its AI usage while cutting costs by 90%. In this episode: - Why your $200/month AI plan can cost the provider $5,000 to run - What a token is — and why it changes everything about how AI is priced - How AI agents turned every employee into a potential budget black hole - Why 85% of companies underestimate their AI costs — and 25% are off by more than 50% - The new discipline of "token ops" and how companies are taking back control - Why the businesses that win the next decade won't use the most AI — but the most efficient AI

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