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June 13, 2026
Managing AI spend
AI spend looks small until subscriptions, APIs, infrastructure, and team budgets are counted together.
AICost
Ramp’s AI Index covers spending across 70,000 US businesses. The median is manageable, but the numbers climb quickly for heavy users and larger teams.
Three numbers stood out to me:
- Median AI spend: $11.38 per employee per month
- Professional, scientific, and technical services: $26.83 per employee per month
- Top 1%: nearly $7,500 per employee
The median is not the number I would worry about. AI costs rarely sit in one place. Subscriptions, APIs, infrastructure, and separate team budgets can all pay for overlapping tools without anyone seeing the full bill.
Adoption is no longer the only question. Someone also needs to know what the company is paying for, which tools overlap, and whether the work is getting better.