Why It’s So Hard for Older B2B Leaders to Compete in AI: Your Customers Can Do A Lot in Claude for $20-$200/Month. And You’re Paying $1.00 Per API Call For the Good Stuff.

▤ Summary

This piece argues that many B2B AI products struggle to compete with direct consumer AI subscriptions like Claude Pro because complex AI work is expensive at the API level. It says simple features can be cheap to run, but the valuable workflows that customers actually care about often cost dollars per use. The article explains that this pricing gap pushes vendors toward thinner features, cheaper models, and subscription packaging that hides the true cost. It also lays out three paths for differentiation: embed AI in workflows Claude cannot replace, optimize for caching and batch processing, or treat AI as a retention feature rather than a direct revenue line.

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