Every company wants to know: are we spending too much on AI, or not enough? Here's what we see.
What Are Typical AI Spend Benchmarks by Company Size?
Based on patterns from Coriven Proof audits and industry data: [estimated]
- 20-50 employees: $1K-$5K/month ($12K-$60K/year). Typically 5-10 AI tools.
- 50-200 employees: $5K-$20K/month ($60K-$240K/year). Typically 10-25 AI tools.
- 200-500 employees: $15K-$50K/month ($180K-$600K/year). Typically 20-40 AI tools.
These ranges are wide because AI spend depends heavily on industry, engineering headcount, and how aggressively the company adopted AI tools.
How Do You Know If You're Spending Too Much?
Total spend isn't the problem. Waste rate is. A company spending $300K/year on AI with 10% waste ($30K recoverable) is in good shape. A company spending $150K/year with 50% waste ($75K recoverable) has a bigger problem — even though total spend is lower.
The metric that matters: waste as a percentage of total AI spend. Under 15% is disciplined. 15-30% is typical. Over 30% means nobody is governing AI tool purchases.