ZAI Institute Research Survey

The AI Cost of Compute Survey

AI spend rarely behaves like other line items. Consumption pricing, surprise bills, and costs buried in other budgets make it hard to see, forecast, and control. This survey asks what AI actually costs your organization and how you keep it in check. Twelve questions, about three minutes. Findings will be published anonymously on the ZAI Insights page.

Senior Leaders ◊ 12 Questions ◊ Anonymous ◊ August 2026

Question 1

Which best describes your role?

Question 2

Which industry best describes your organization?

Technology & software Financial services Healthcare & life sciences Professional services & consulting Manufacturing & industrial Retail & consumer Government & nonprofit Other

Question 3

How large is your organization?

Question 4

Can you see your AI spend as its own line item today?

Yes, cleanly, one place shows the full picture Partially, some of it is tracked separately No, it is buried inside other budgets Honestly, no idea what we spend

Question 5

Which way has your AI spend moved over the past 6 months?

Question 6

Have you had a month where AI costs came in well above forecast?

Yes, significantly above Yes, modestly above No We don't track closely enough to know

Question 7

Which cost controls do you actually have in place?

Select all that apply.

Budgets or spend alerts Per-team or per-user quotas Routing work to cheaper models where possible Caching or prompt optimization Committed-use or negotiated contracts None yet

Question 8

What is the single biggest driver of your AI costs?

API or token usage Per-seat licenses (Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.) Infrastructure and compute AI add-ons from existing vendors People time (building, tuning, overseeing) Don't know

Question 9

How confident are you forecasting your AI spend 12 months out?

1 is no confidence, 5 is fully confident.

Question 10

Has consumption-based pricing changed any AI adoption decision?

Yes, it killed a project Yes, it delayed one Yes, it shaped how we built or bought No real effect Not sure

Question 11

Do you know your cost per AI-assisted task or outcome?

For example, cost per support ticket resolved, per document drafted, per lead handled.

Yes, fairly precisely Roughly No Not applicable to how we use AI

Question 12

What is the one thing about AI costs you wish you could see or control, but can't today?

Optional. Your words may be quoted anonymously in the published findings.

Your responses are anonymous and will be aggregated for research. ZAI Institute will never attribute individual answers without separate written permission.

Thank you for your perspective.

Your response has been recorded. The aggregated findings from this survey will be published on the ZAI Insights page.

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