What just happened! Pricing in Q1 2025 with Karan Sood, Marcos Rivera and Steven Forth
Steven Forth is CEO of Ibbaka. Connect on LinkedIn
2025 is shaping up to be an interesting year and a lot has already happened. In Q1, we saw some important developments.
OpenAI reframed agent pricing by proposing a Ph.D. level agent priced at $20,000 per month
Buyer-side AI is redefining the buying process (with implications for pricing transparency)
The 11X debacle has people questioning ARR as a metric
There is talk of agents and new pricing models disrupting existing B2B SaaS applications
Hybrid pricing models are becoming more sophisticated, combining subscriptions with access/availability charges, usage, and outcomes
Join Steven Forth from Ibbaka, Marcos Rivera from Pricing I/O, and Karan Sood for a dynamic webinar on "What Happened in Pricing in Q1 2025". Marcos, Karan, and Steven are all informed, opinionated, and outspoken.
If you can’t attend, register anyway to get access to the recording, presentation, and notes.
Some of the key trends people in SaaS need to be aware of are …
Emerging Packaging Patterns
Agent AI Dominance:
AI agents are increasingly being packaged as standalone tools or "families of agents" designed to perform specific tasks within business functions. For example, Salesforce aims to deploy one billion agents by the end of 2025, supported by its Agentforce platform.
Agents are replacing traditional roles like Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and customer success personnel, driving innovation in task-specific automation.
Family of Agents:
Businesses are exploring "families of agents" that can collaborate to complete complex workflows. Pricing strategies for these families may include discounts for bundled purchases or premiums for enhanced integrated value.
Shift Away from User-Based Pricing:
Traditional per-user pricing models are becoming obsolete. Instead, agent pricing is evolving based on metrics such as task complexity, value delivered, performance outcomes, and task completion rates.
Innovative Pricing Models
Outcome-Based Pricing continues to get a lot of attention (but is it real)
AI agents are increasingly priced based on outcomes rather than usage or subscription fees.
Outcome-based pricing aligns with consumption models but introduces complexity in contract negotiations.
Hybrid Pricing Approaches are dominating
Companies like ServiceNow are adopting hybrid models combining seat-based subscriptions with consumption-based pricing for AI agents. This approach balances scalability with customer-specific needs.
AI is reconfiguring the buying process and the sales process
AI tools are being used to optimize discounting practices by analyzing hundreds of deal parameters, leading to more strategic pricing decisions and reduced unnecessary variance.
Acceleration of Agentic AI:
Businesses have shifted from experimentation to execution in AI adoption. Investments are now focused on targeted solutions that solve specific high-value problems, such as sales optimization and customer support automation.
Personalized AI agents tailored to brand values are becoming prevalent, enhancing customer experiences and loyalty.
Challenges and Considerations
Outcome-based pricing models may lead to complicated contracts with high variability in costs depending on performance metrics.
As businesses adopt agentic AI at scale, issues such as transparency, fairness, and trust must be managed carefully to ensure long-term customer satisfaction.
A lot happened, a lot is happening, a lot will happen …
