Executive Briefing: Uber Burned Its Entire AI Budget Early

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• Uber depleting its AI token budget ahead of schedule is a failure of budgeting model, not of AI economics. When AI becomes embedded operational labour rather than a purchased tool, seat-based licensing and fixed AI line items structurally undercount actual usage.
• Framework: companies must shift to understanding delegated intelligence cost — what did you ask AI to do, and did it produce customer value? The token-per-outcome metric, not token-per-seat, is the right unit for AI budget governance.