Artificial Intelligence Workgroup
Thursday, September 17, 2026
1:00pm – 2:00pm

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Tokenomics (The Economics of AI): Understanding AI Cost, Consumption and Value

Event Description
Generative AI has moved from pilot projects into live government operations — and the bills are arriving faster than the governance frameworks to manage them. This session cuts through the hype to address the practical economics of enterprise AI: what it actually costs, why those costs are so hard to see, and how state government organizations can build the visibility and discipline needed to scale AI responsibly.

We'll start where most audiences need to start — with the basics. What are large language models and tokens, how do they actually work, and why does it matter to your budget? From there, we'll build up to the harder questions: How do AI agents multiply costs in ways no one anticipated? Why do 85% of technology leaders lack real-time visibility into what they're spending? And what separates the organizations that scale AI successfully from the 50% that abandon projects after the pilot phase?

Attendees will leave with a practical framework for thinking about AI total cost of ownership, a vocabulary for conversations with both technology and finance leadership, and how to make decisions on AI spend in the context of actual *value* realized as a result of AI investment and adoption. Attendees will leave with five concrete actions any state organization can take today — regardless of where they are in their AI journey.

No prior AI experience required. This session is designed for state technology leaders, finance executives, and program managers who are navigating AI adoption and need to understand the economics, not just the capabilities.

Speaker:
Adam Biegeleisen, IBM

Adam Biegeleisen is a subject matter expert in financial operations and Technology Business Management at IBM, helping organizations understand, measure, and optimize the true cost of technology. His expertise spans technology cost transparency, IT financial management, and the emerging economics of AI—including how organizations can measure the full cost and business value of AI deployments. Adam brings a practical perspective to one of today’s most important questions for technology leaders: What does technology—and increasingly AI—really cost, and how do we know it’s delivering value?

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