Nasr Khan

11 AI

AI outcome and quote check

Are the outcomes on the AI vendor's invoice the results our business counts as done, and what does each one really cost?

For CFOs, operations leaders and procurement. Also for investors judging outcome-priced AI companies. Takes about five minutes.

Your work and the proposals

1The work
$
2What happens to them today

Split the AI's work into five outcomes, from your own data or a pilot. The shares are scaled to add up to 100%. Tick what your business counts as done, and add the minutes your team still spends on each.

3The proposals

Up to three quotes, each priced its own way. Tick what each vendor bills. The resolution rate is what each vendor claims, or what its pilot showed.

The answer

The invoices, reconciled in red pen

Cost of one accepted result

Vendor's billYour team's work after the AI

What each vendor bills, against what you count as done

A red tick means the vendor bills it, but your team doesn't count it as done.

Definitions to settle before you sign

    Take the result with you

    A PDF report with your inputs, results, charts and method. Or the same as plain text for an email.

    How this tool works

    What it does

    AI agents are now sold per outcome, per conversation, per action or per user. Each vendor defines its billable event its own way. A vendor can deliver exactly what the contract says and still leave your team work to finish.

    This tool puts up to three quotes on the same footing: the cost of one result your business accepts as done, with your team's remaining work included.

    What you enter

    • The work. Monthly volume, the cost of your team's time, and how long a result must hold.
    • Five outcomes. Resolved and stayed resolved, came back, handed to a person by a set procedure, escalated, and abandoned. Their shares, the minutes your team spends on each, and which ones count as done.
    • The proposals. Pricing model, unit price, fees and minimums, what each vendor bills, whether charges reverse when a customer comes back, and each vendor's resolution rate.

    What you get

    • The invoices, reconciled: billed events against accepted results.
    • Cost per accepted result, for the vendor alone and with your team's work.
    • Definitions to settle before you sign or renew, and a PDF for procurement.

    Try it: tick or untick what counts as done. The invoices stay the same, and the cost per result moves.

    The maths, assumptions and sources

    Each outcome's count = volume × its share. A vendor's resolution rate rescales the two resolved outcomes, and the other three keep their proportions. Billed units = the counts of the outcomes a vendor bills, or those counts × actions per conversation, or the number of users. Reopened conversations aren't billed when the vendor reverses charges. Vendor cost = fixed fee + unit price × billed units, topped up to any monthly minimum. Accepted results = the counts of the outcomes you tick as done. All-in cost per result = (vendor cost + your team's minutes × hourly cost) ÷ accepted results.

    A difference between a vendor's billable event and your definition of done is a point to settle in the contract. It doesn't mean a vendor billed wrongly.

    • Intercom, Fin AI Agent outcomes: resolutions and set procedure handoffs are billed per outcome, default escalations aren't, and a resolution is deducted if the customer comes back.
    • SaaStr (February 2026): Salesforce sells Agentforce per conversation, per action credit and per user at the same time.
    See answer