The Token Bill Is Coming. Nobody's Ready for It.

Enterprise AI token usage is creating surprise bills because many teams still lack visibility, chargeback, and spending controls.

Runaway costs can come from loops, subagents, and heavy context use, making AI spend hard to predict and manage.

The situation echoes early cloud sprawl, where uncontrolled usage quickly outpaced budgets and governance.

The article argues a major market will emerge for AI spend management, similar to cloud cost tools like CloudHealth, Apptio, and Flexera.