2025: AI, Usage-Based Models, and the Future of Revenue Generation

A new year brings a wave of innovation and 2025 is no exception. To kick off the year, we’re diving into the AI trends set to impact revenue generation. How will AI transform Order-to-Cash (O2C) processes? What is its role in driving revenue? We’re exploring these questions and more, with subject matter experts.

Here’s what we have for you:??

?? Industry Insight: How AI is Transforming Order-to-Cash

?? Customer Success Story: How a Utility Company Launched Pay-As-You-Go to Reduce Financial Risk??

??? Podcast Feature: Are you Mature Enough for Usage Based Pricing???

?? Quick Tip of the Month: Validating Your AI Monetization Hypothesis?

Industry Insight: How AI is Transforming Order-to-Cash?

AI is reshaping revenue strategies, with predictive and generative AI driving a shift from fixed pricing to dynamic, customer-focused models. These technologies provide the data-driven insights needed to transform O2C processes.?

"AI enables businesses to experiment with and roll out new pricing models.”?Gaurav Dixit, Head of Data and AI Products

The Shift to Usage-Based Billing?

AI-powered tools like analytics and predictions are making usage-based billing a reality. This model directly ties pricing to customer consumption, offering flexibility and personalization.?

But successful usage-based billing relies on effective usage data management, which is essential for accurately monetizing AI-driven services.?

Why Data Mediation is Essential for AI Monetization?

Mediation is what makes usage-based billing work. It takes raw usage data—quantities, timing, and product details—and formats it so billing systems can process it. Mediation ensures accurate, real-time billing based on actual customer usage, making it a critical part of monetizing AI services.?Without it, usage-based billing can't happen.

?? Read more about our AI predictions.

Customer Success Story: How a Utility Company Launched Pay-As-You-Go to Reduce Financial Risk?

A European utility company sought to transform its billing system and reduce financial risk by adopting a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model. This shift was driven by new regulations requiring real-time consumption data and smart meter integration.?

Customer:

This power company specializes in electricity and gas, operating a range of renewable power plants, including hydroelectric, thermoelectric, wind, solar, and more. They have over 60 million customers across 40 countries.

Challenge:

Following an EU energy regulation change, the utility became the first to replace traditional meters with smart meters, enabling real-time consumption measurement and remote contract management. This upgrade presented opportunities to expand their product portfolio, collect granular usage data, and gain insights into customer behavior. However, they faced the challenge of implementing a PAYG model while managing real-time data, usage tracking, and VAT compliance.?

Solution:

DigitalRoute’s Usage Engine integrated with smart meters to gather real-time and batch data, linked it to individual users for seamless billing, and monitored account balances. It enabled the automatic detection of over-usage, prevented transactions with blacklisted cards, and managed VAT across regions, ensuring accuracy and financial settlements with third-party vendors.

Outcome:

By shifting to DigitalRoute Usage Engine, the energy company added flexible and transparent invoicing and settlements with 100% accuracy.??

?? For more details, read the full case study. ?

Podcast Feature: Are You Ready for Usage-Based Pricing??

What makes usage-based pricing (UBP) such an effective strategy, and why are so many businesses embracing it? Stephan Liozu, Chief Value Officer at Zilliant and Co-Founder & Chief Monetization Officer at Pricing for the Planet, joined the Data for Subscriptions podcast to share his insights.?

Key Insights:?

1. B2B Is Catching Up:?

“In the B2C world, industries like banks, telecom, and healthcare have long relied on UBP. But in the B2B world, it’s beginning to take off." Stephen Liozu

The growing competition in SaaS is a driving force, as dynamic pricing models help companies stay competitive and responsive to customer needs.

??2. Pricing as a Customer-Centric Lever:

“To be close to your customers, you need to understand what they use, how they use it, and when they use it—and align your pricing model to those behaviors.”

UBP enables businesses to create a pricing structure that feels fair and personalized, making it a strategic lever for customer loyalty.?

3. Data is the Foundation?

Implementing UBP successfully depends on clean, accurate data. Tracking usage, ensuring transparency, and invoicing precisely all rely on effective usage data management. DigitalRoute helps solve these challenges.

Curious if your business is ready for UBP? Listen to Stephan’s five-step maturity model.

Quick Tip of the Month: Validating Your AI Monetization Hypothesis

Thinking about diving into usage-based AI monetization? As Tapish, Senior Director, Product Pricing and Strategy at Freshworks puts it,

"Build a hypothesis, validate with customers first before launching anything. Ensure your solution truly resolves their problems, and think of AI as an augmentation, not just a feature."?

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this month's issue, stay connected with us by subscribing to the newsletter. See you next month.??