This is Part 1 of our new Token Series with Tabs. CJ calls up Ali Hussain to dig into one of the fastest-growing, least-understood line items on the P&L: AI inference and token spend. They debate whether AI costs ultimately belong to the CTO or the CFO, why the shift from "experimentation budgets" to real operating costs is forcing companies to rethink ownership, what's actually different about AI spend compared to the early cloud transition, and how tools like OpenRouter (acquired by Stripe) and Ramp's new offering are approaching the problem from opposite ends of engineering vs. finance.
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Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com
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LINKS:
Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN
Guest: linkedin.com/in/ali-hussain786
Company: www.tabs.com
CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Cold Open
1:11 From Experimentation Budgets to Real AI Costs
2:43 Who Owns AI Spend Inside a Company?
4:12 Lessons from the Cloud Transition
5:55 Why AI Costs Are Different from Cloud
7:51 AI as "Electricity Through the House"
8:42 Paying for 5 to 10 LLM Providers
9:58 OpenRouter vs. Ramp: Two Approaches
11:47 What the Finance Stack for AI Spend Should Look Like
13:34 Passing AI Costs on to Customers
