The Pulse: token spend breaks budgets – what next?

AI agent token spending has exploded 10-15x at many tech companies over the past 6 months, creating budget pressure across organizations of all sizes. Based on interviews with engineers and leaders at 15 companies, two main strategies are emerging: 'let it rip and measure' (accepting high spend while tracking productivity impact) and 'curb spending' (switching to cheaper models, setting defaults, capping usage). Some developers are spending $500/day on Claude Code alone, effectively doubling employee costs. Companies managing costs use model routing, cheaper defaults, and spending caps. Discounts from vendors like Cursor start around $1M+ in spend, while Anthropic reportedly offers no discounts even at $5M+ annual spend. The productivity gains appear real at some companies — one healthcare firm kept headcount flat while growing traffic 10x — but many organizations haven't yet measured ROI against the rising costs.