Price the Job, Not the Tool

Part 4 - Architecting the Outcome: New Models for a New Era

Chapter 8: The Profit Model Revolution: Beyond Price-Per-Outcome

We have successfully diagnosed the patient. The Socratic scalpel and the Five Whys drill have cut through the symptoms, exposed the root cause, and allowed us to define the true job. Our Customer Success Statements (CSS) have given us a set of hard, contractual metrics. We have, in essence, created the “what”—the specific, measurable outcome we are agreeing to deliver.

Now we must architect the “how.” How, precisely, do we get paid?

This is not a trivial question. It is not the last line item on a proposal. In this new economy, the way you structure the price is just as innovative—and just as valuable—as the AI agent itself. A brilliant AI agent shackled to a stupid, misaligned pricing model will fail, guaranteed. A revolutionary “Profit Model,” b…