In this short discussion, two speakers lament the escalating cost of AI inference and token usage, describing how these expenses are threatening the viability of SaaS businesses. They note that even successful companies like Canva face unsustainable token burn when trying to build AI agents, leading to stagnant growth and an inability to compete. The conversation frames the situation as a potential “final nail” for many B2B firms, but hints at a possible escape: creating exceptionally high‑ROI AI agents that can command premium pricing (tens of thousands per month) to offset the heavy inference costs. The tone is conversational and urgent, with a mix of worry about the current crisis and cautious optimism about a high‑value solution.
Is this war escalating with a level of token intensity that you just can't keep up at? And I acknowledge that, that at the app level, as a couple, as I say, a couple of my companies are wrestling with those issues right now.
Yeah, I'm just. I'm honestly worried. We talk about is SAS dead or what's going on. I worry this is the next final act, is that you checked out. You did all the right things. Right. I did.
Everything you told me to do. You did.
It. You did. You're not growing 0%. Your customers don't hate you. You built an agent. And the final nail in the coffin is we just can't afford the inference. We just can't build a competitive product. We can't. And even, you know, earlier on this podcast, in essence, even Canva, which will be one of the great IPOs, even Cliff teased at that I could build Gamma, but I can't. I can't burn the way Gamma burns those tokens. Now, maybe he'd say something different today, but it was the same point that echoed in my head that now we're seeing across boardrooms, across B2B companies. I think it's the final nail.
Is.
There a way out.
There if you can't raise the money to compete, but you can't not spend well.
Rory, hit the way out. The way out there is a simple way out, which is you build an epically good agent. Typically one, maybe that's. Let's say your product's $5,000 a year, $10,000 a year, and you're able to charge $20,000 a month for your agent, $10,000 a month because it replaces 20 people. It's that good. It's not pretend that good. It's not that good on a sales pitch. It's literally so good that the ROI is measured in weeks. Right. That's your way out. But the problem is it, like you, a lot of B2B companies, they're eight. They're just struggling to get parody. The bar is so high. And so. But that's the answer. But it's exhausting because it was so much work just to get here, to get to profitability, to get to agent. Now you have to beat the agent that open evidence, Lagora, Harvey, whoever, we're going to talk about rep. You have to have a better agent than them to earn the 20 grand a month.
