AI Is Making Us More Productive. But Who's Paying the Bill?

AI is supposed to make businesses more productive. But what happens when it also becomes one of their biggest expenses? 77% of digital workers now juggle multiple AI tools every week. As adoption accelerates, businesses are facing a new challenge: AI sprawl. Multiple tools doing similar jobs. Employees running the same prompts across different models. Growing token consumption. And increasingly complex decisions about which models should actually be used for which workloads. In this episode of the ThinkData Podcast, I sit down with Nikhil Mungel, Head of AI R&D at Cribl, to look at the economics behind enterprise AI. We discuss: • Why AI costs could become a major corporate budget line • Whether employees will eventually be given individual token budgets • Why bigger AI models aren't always better • How businesses can match models to the work they're actually doing • Whether more AI workloads will move away from the cloud • The growing problem of AI sprawl • How CEOs should think about investing millions into AI • What enterprise AI could look like over the next 3–5 years Nikhil leads AI R&D at Cribl and has spent more than 15 years building distributed systems and AI teams, with previous leadership roles at Substack, Splunk and ThoughtWorks. If you're a founder, CEO, CTO or technology leader trying to understand where enterprise AI is heading — and what it's actually going to cost — this one's worth a listen. Subscribe to ThinkData for more conversations with the people building and leading the next generation of technology companies. Please visit our website to get more information: http://www.mydataworks.io/ 🔔𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.    / @thinkdatapodcast   ✅ Important Link to Follow 🔗 Listen to the ThinkData Podcast for insights on building the future of work with Data & AI! https://thinkdata.captivate.fm/ 🔗 Stay Connected With Us. LinkedIn:   / alexhutchings   Website: http://www.mydataworks.io/ 📩 For business inquiries: alex@mydataworks.io ============================= 🎬Suggested videos for you: ▶️    • Why Mobile Networks Are Changing Forever |...   ▶️    • How Vellum Helps Companies Build AI Produc...   ▶️    • How AI Is Powering Hybrid Cloud Management...   ▶️    • How AI Is Changing Retail Forever | Manish...   ▶️    • How ZEDEDA Scaled Edge Computing Globally ...   ▶️    • What It Really Takes To Build An AI Startu...   ▶️    • How Brighthive Is Reinventing Data Managem...   ▶️    • How AI Is Transforming Healthcare | Concer...   ▶️    • How To Scale Revenue In A Healthtech Start...   ▶️    • How Accelsius Is Cooling AI Data Centers E...   ================================= ✅ About ThinkData Podcast by Dataworks. Welcome to the ThinkData Podcast, brought to you in partnership with Dataworks. If you're keen to stay ahead of the curve on the latest breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence and Data, and want a behind-the-scenes look at how top companies and founders are building and scaling world-class AI products, you’re in the right place. Each episode, we’ll sit down with visionary founders, product leaders, and industry experts from some of the most exciting AI and Data startups around the globe. Together, we’ll unpack real strategies, hard lessons, and bold ideas driving the next generation of innovation. So join the conversation, and let’s explore the future of Data & AI together. For Business inquiries, please use the contact information below: 📩 Email: alex@mydataworks.io 🔔 Hit subscribe and don’t miss out on latest breakthroughs in AI & Data, behind-the-scenes looks at AI products, and expert interviews!    / @thinkdatapodcast   ================================= AI, Artificial Intelligence, Enterprise AI, AI Sprawl, AI Costs, Nikhil Mungel, Cribl, AI Tokens, Token Budgets, LLM Costs, Generative AI, Enterprise Technology, AI Infrastructure, Future of AI, AI Strategy, ThinkData Podcast