Pricing Intelligence: What AI economics means for leaders building and buying AI

Friday, April 17, 2026 · 10:55 AM – 11:25 AM · Auditorium 5

AI pricing is fundamentally different from the pricing models that came before it. AI products don’t behave like SaaS — the cost curves are different, and the relationship between usage and value is far less predictable. This changes how products get priced, how companies get valued, and how businesses built on top of AI models need to think about their own economics.

This session examines the novel economics of AI and what they mean in practice for teams consuming and building on frontier AI. We’ll look at how AI pricing affects costs, product roadmaps, and competitive position. The session will offer frameworks for building a business case for AI, measuring value, and navigating pricing and positioning decisions in a still-evolving market.

About the Speaker

Charu Maheshwari

Product finance & strategy, Anthropic

Charu Maheshwari is on the Product Finance and Strategy team at Anthropic, where she works on pricing and business strategy for Claude models. She is a CFA Charterholder and Wharton MBA, and was earlier working at at McKinsey and Company advising senior executives on business strategy. She brings a combination of rigorous financial training and direct operational experience inside a frontier AI lab.