An AI budget is more than just licences

When it comes to an AI budget, many organisations first think of licences, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot. That makes sense, as that is the most obvious cost. But in practice, it is mainly the other items that determine whether your investment pays off. A licence that nobody makes proper use of costs money without delivering any results.

We therefore recommend structuring your AI budget for 2027 around five categories. In our AI Implementation Programme We’ll go through those items with you.

1. Licences in your AI budget: who are they for and which ones?

Not every employee needs the same level of AI support. Identify which roles stand to save the most time with AI, and start there. Also take a look at your existing Microsoft licences: sometimes a bundle with Copilot works out cheaper than a standalone add-on. You can read more about this in our blog post on the Microsoft 365 pricing update.

• Which teams or roles start first?
• Is the free version enough? Microsoft Copilot Chat for some of your staff?
• Does your current mix of licences still fit in with your plans?

2. Implementation and data: is your environment ready?

AI works with the data that staff can already view. Are the permissions set in SharePoint If Teams isn’t set up properly, Copilot will also find information that isn’t intended for everyone. You should therefore set aside a budget to get your environment in order beforehand:

• check permissions and access;
• set sensitivity labels, for example using Microsoft Purview;
• clearing out outdated or duplicate data.

3. Verbruik: wat kosten agents en tokens echt?

Anyone who goes beyond Copilot in Word, Outlook or Teams will soon find themselves building their own agents or integrating AI into business processes. Examples include Microsoft Copilot Studio (see also our blog Copilot Studio: build your own AI) or AI services in Microsoft Azure. Die worden niet per gebruiker aangerekend, maar per verbruik: in Copilot Studio betaal je met Copilot Credits, in Azure per verbruikte token.

Juist daar zit vandaag de grootste onzekerheid in veel AI-budgetten. Eén vraag aan een agent leidt vaak tot meerdere AI-stappen achter de schermen: plannen, informatie opzoeken, acties uitvoeren en een antwoord formuleren. Elke stap verbruikt tokens. Bij geavanceerde reasoning-modellen kan één antwoord zo al snel duizenden tokens kosten. Dat de prijs per token daalt, betekent dus niet automatisch dat je factuur daalt.

Een paar zaken om mee te nemen in je budget:

• Interne agents die medewerkers met een Microsoft 365 Copilot-licentie gebruiken, kosten voor veel scenario’s geen extra credits. Agents voor klanten of agents die autonoom processen afhandelen, verbruiken wel credits.
• De keuze van het AI-model weegt zwaar door. Een reasoning-model is niet voor elke taak nodig.
• Korte instructies en gerichte kennisbronnen beperken het verbruik.
• Start met een proefperiode, meet het werkelijke verbruik en stel pas daarna je budget bij.

Spreek ook af wie het verbruik opvolgt, en stel limieten in per agent. Zo blijft de kost voorspelbaar.

4. Adoption and training: get the most out of your AI budget

The greatest benefits lie in how staff use AI on a daily basis. A basic training course helps everyone get started. However, advanced users and IT professionals need more: they need to learn how to craft better prompts, build their own agents and rethink processes.

You should therefore set aside part of your AI budget for training and support. That way, you’ll really get the most out of your licences. On our events Incidentally, AI is often discussed, with demos and real-world examples.

5. Governance and cost management

Employees are increasingly building small AI applications themselves, such as dashboards or simple apps. This is a positive development, provided that IT retains an overview. You should therefore set out the following in advance:

• which AI tools are permitted;
• how to protect your business data;
• hoe je AI-uitgaven en tokenverbruik opvolgt, bijvoorbeeld met verbruikslimieten per agent.

This way, you can avoid any surprises on your bill and ensure that AI remains safe and manageable.

Your AI budget starts with a plan, not with a figure

A good AI budget doesn’t start with a figure, but with the question of what you want to achieve with AI. Which processes do you want to speed up? Where are staff currently wasting time? Based on those objectives, you can determine which licences, support and usage levels you really need. With us AI Implementation Programme We’ll guide you every step of the way, from strategy to roll-out.

Are you planning your AI budget for 2027? Our AI experts would be happy to work with you. During a brief introductory meeting, we’ll assess where you stand today. We’ll then plan an analysis session together to fine-tune your budget and draw up a concrete AI plan for 2027.