Workplace AI is now billed by use, not just per person

Workplace AI is moving from a flat fee per person to a bill that grows with use. Microsoft left its paid Copilot seat count out of its October 28 results, while Google said it has sold more than 100 million AI seats. For businesses, the bigger change is that part of the AI bill can now rise without anyone signing a new contract.

What changed

Microsoft's quarterly revenue rose 19% to $92.3 billion. The Copilot seat number, last reported at more than 30 million, was missing from both the release and the call. CFO Amy Hood confirmed the company did not disclose an update. CEO Satya Nadella pointed to other signs: daily users up nearly 50 percent from the prior quarter, though he gave no starting number.

He also said customers actively using credits under usage-based billing grew over 75 percent in the quarter. Credits are the units Microsoft uses to charge for AI work.

Seats versus meters

Google took the opposite approach. Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said Google has sold more than 100 million seats for knowledge work. The two claims are not like-for-like, because Google's figure covers all of its AI services, not one product.

The bill itself is splitting in two. One part is a seat license that IT owns, increasingly the $99 E7 suite. The other is a variable bill for AI agents, which are tools that carry out tasks on their own. Business units can run that second bill up.

What starts December 1

From December 1, Microsoft says usage-based billing will be on by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses bought through its CSP partner program. The default limit is 4,000 Copilot Credits per user per month. The material does not say what a credit costs or how much work it covers, so that is worth asking a partner directly.

Why seats tell less now

Analyst Kevin Kieller of enableUC expects people to spend less time inside any one vendor's app. He says they may work through a favorite AI assistant, such as Claude, or by voice. ServiceNow is already following that path. It launched a plugin for ChatGPT and connected its workflows to Gemini Enterprise. If work happens in whichever assistant staff prefer, a seat count says less and the meter says more.

What to do

• Ask your Microsoft partner whether your new licenses will have usage billing on by default.
• Decide who owns the usage meter: IT, finance or each business unit.
• Set a monthly credit limit that fits how each team will really use AI.
• Check which outside AI connectors are switched on and whose permissions an agent uses.