AWS pushes partners to rethink pricing for the AI era
AI is putting pressure on the sprawling, multiyear software contracts common in the channel ecosystem.
As companies seek to control spending in the token economy, AWS partners are experimenting with flexible pricing, including pay-as-you-go and outcome-based models.
“I think that all software that people are acquiring will offer a consumption mode, an AI mode,” Allison Johnson, director of the AWS Americas Technology Partners Team, told Channel Dive. “There’s no way to go back to that world of a five-year-deal.”
Johnson oversees about 400 technology partners across software, AI and other products with various pricing models. AI-native partners like OpenAI and Anthropic started with consumption-based billing. Now, a cohort of traditional SaaS partners are moving in the same direction, Johnson said.
Outcome-based pricing, which ties costs to measurable results, is gaining traction in the AI market. According to a 2026 AWS Market Study, 80% of customers were shifting to outcome-based commercial...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to ciodive.com. To see the full text click HERE
