FEATURE AI REVENUE GENERATION
does it cost to serve? How accurately can that cost be forecast? And who inside the business is accountable when usage grows faster than the margin?
Ari Vanttinen, CMO at DigitalRoute: Before AI, finance teams could model revenue with a reasonable degree of confidence because the commercial unit was stable. The customer bought access, the provider delivered service and the economics of the relationship were comparatively predictable. AI has changed that balance. It has made usage visible again, and not just as an operational metric. It has made usage commercial.
That shift matters because AI does not create value in the same way as a static feature set. It creates value in motion. Every prompt, prediction, recommendation, resolution, automated task, model call and generated output is an event of usage. Each event creates customer value, but it can also create cost. That makes AI monetisation fundamentally different from simply attaching a premium label to an intelligent capability and hoping the economics hold. It means the route to revenue now runs through the moment of usage. And once revenue starts there, so do the harder questions.
What should be charged for? What should be bundled? What should be measured? What
Paul Jackson, Director of EMEA Channel, Foxit: The channel’ s AI opportunity is about helping organisations manage the governance, compliance and security challenges that AI has brought to the surface.
For years, conversations around document management focused on productivity and cost savings. AI has fundamentally changed that. Organisations are now asking much tougher questions around data exposure, compliance, data residency and governance. Many are concerned about employees inadvertently sharing sensitive information with AI tools, creating new risks with GDPR, intellectual property and customer data.
This is creating a significant opportunity for partners to evolve beyond traditional software resale and become trusted advisors. Customers increasingly need guidance on
AI is reshaping customer expectations and creating new revenue opportunities across the channel ecosystem. But sustainable success will depend on far more than selling licences or deploying new tools. Partners that can guide customers through governance, compliance, security, optimisation and business transformation are positioning themselves for lasting relevance. We hear from five channel experts on how partners can turn the growing demand for AI solutions into sustainable revenue opportunities.
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS 25