Satya says pricing is always tricky and they're still refining it. In their space it has to be a hybrid approach — part value-based, part outcome-based, part seed-based with thresholds. The key is to stay flexible and align pricing with how customers actually realize value and budget.
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Satya stayed diplomatic on specifics but shared the principle: AI has changed the game completely — you see everything from token-based to seat-based pricing, and they all make sense depending on the use case. In their space he learned it has to be more of a hybrid approach. After experimenting in the early days, the best approach he found is "to stay flexible and to align on pricing with how customers actually realize value, how they budget, and whatever makes it easier for them." His warning: it's fine to be flexible on the amount, but for a startup to be rigid in how you structure your pricing "is not a good idea." Aligning to how customers are used to buying makes a better story for them when they sell it internally to their finance teams.