INDUSTRY VIEW because the vendor has to commit from a financial and a cost point of view, but then it is usually easier for the vendor to take on this type of commitment than the end user, and so, with the right checks, planning, and advice, it is generally a win-win model,” indicates F5’ s Hlil.
Digital labour and outcome based services
The IT industry has been moving towards more flexible licensing and on-demand consumption models for several years now, and this appears to be accelerating.
“ Salesforce sees particularly strong demand for on-demand consumption for AI-based services and solutions,” says Mukesh Kumar, Regional Vice President, Middle East Alliance and Channels, Salesforce.
This is partly because these services are new, and many organisations want to test the water and offer AI-based services without the risk of making long-term investments. Given the rapid pace of AI development, it is also difficult for customers to forecast demand accurately.
While AI adoption is moving at an unprecedented pace, many CIOs are concerned about maintaining cost controls amid the pressure to innovate. In fact, 90 % of CIOs report that managing AI costs is limiting their ability to drive value, according to Salesforce’ s recent CIO AI
Trends research.
Leveraging AI-based solutions, including digital labour, can automate provisioning, monitoring, and billing for usage-based models, improving efficiency and enabling rapid scaling. This shift requires deep understanding of customer consumption patterns and a service-centric approach to build recurring revenue streams and foster long-term client relationships.
Salesforce introduced a new flexible pricing for Agentforce in May, designed to meet accelerating demand for digital labour. This was a direct response to demand from organisations increasingly seeking a pricing model aligned to how AI agents deliver business outcomes and create value.
Beyond flexibility, ondemand consumption gives end users a way of mixing and matching solutions.
This new approach enables teams to start small, experiment flexibly with different use cases, and then scale their success across their entire enterprise, empowering humans and agents to work together seamlessly to drive success.
To accelerate this shift toward flexible digital labour capacity, Salesforce introduced three major pricing innovations designed to unlock AI adoption at scale, empower organisations to expand their digital workforces, and deliver strategic investment flexibility across the enterprise.
Channel partners must pivot from traditional licensing to embrace flexible, on-demand consumption models. This involves transforming their business from transactional sales to outcome-based services. Partners should focus on providing value-added services like implementation, optimisation, and ongoing managed services rather than just selling licenses. •
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