Gartner warned that enterprise spending on AI coding tools is on track to exceed the average software developer’s salary by 2028 as vendors shift from flat subscriptions to per‑token billing and token consumption surges.
The research firm said the move to consumption‑based pricing has made costs highly variable and harder to forecast, with many organizations already seeing dramatic per‑developer token bills. Gartner Peer Insights data cited in the report shows roughly 23% of technology leaders are spending between $200 and $500 per developer per month on tokens, while about 6% report spending above $2,000 per developer per month. Nitish Tyagi, a senior principal analyst at Gartner, warned that developers tend to prioritise speed and convenience over cost discipline, making governance essential.
Enterprises are responding by imposing tighter controls and budget limits. Uber said it exhausted its 2026 AI budget within four months and has instituted a $1,500 monthly spending cap per employee for each AI coding tool, according to Bloomberg reporting cited by multiple outlets. The policy applies to agentic coding platforms such as Claude Code and Cursor and includes internal dashboards and approval processes for additional access.
Analysts say the cost problem extends beyond engineers. KPMG and other advisers report that non‑engineering staff running high‑volume tasks through AI for example, document reformatting and routine workflows are a significant driver of token use, often outside traditional IT visibility. That lack of centralized tracking means CFOs and CIOs frequently lack real‑time insight into enterprise AI spend, increasing risk of budget overruns.
Gartner recommends tighter governance measures: set token thresholds, route simpler tasks to smaller models, and adopt a “tokenomics” model that links usage to ownership and business value. The firm also advises embedding automated monitoring, escalating high‑consumption workflows for review, and training teams in context engineering to reduce unnecessary token use.
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