Summary Bullets:

• While rivals are aligned in stuffing their platforms full of GenAI features, they diverge when it comes to pricing those features.

• There is no easy answer as to whether GenAI features should cost extra — and not necessarily a right or wrong one.

When GenAI first arrived on team collaboration platforms, widespread fear was generated that hard-earned skills – and the employees that cultivated them – would be displaced. Those fears are softening as GenAI increasingly earns recognition as a tool that makes workers more productive. Mundane and time-absorbing tasks (such as generating meeting recaps, composing emails, and scheduling meetings) are outsourced to GenAI, allowing workers to focus on high-priority activities and increase their value to their organizations. Productivity enhancements have been delivered largely through a proliferation of virtual assistants involving every major competitor (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Cisco AI Assistant in Webex Suite, and Zoom AI Companion).

These assistants represent the centerpiece of a ‘permeate the platform’ approach that has competitors sprinkling GenAI features across their full portfolios. But when anything gets sprinkled, inevitably spots are missed. Competitors are going back and filling the ‘holes’ with features that harness information residing platform-wide. For instance, Microsoft’s Discover Feed surfaces information stored across Teams channels while Zoom Docs taps content sourced from various Zoom apps to create documents.

While rivals are aligned in stuffing their platforms full of GenAI features, they diverge when it comes to affixing a price tag to those features. Two paths have been taken – either charging an extra monthly per-user fee or including features as part of established subscriptions at no additional cost. For example, in the ‘fee camp,’ Microsoft Copilot costs $30 while Google’s Gemini for Workspace costs $20 to $30. In the ‘free camp’ are those such as Cisco, which does not charge for Cisco AI Assistant in Webex Suite, and Zoom, which extends the same courtesy for Zoom AI Companion. However, it should be noted that technically Zoom falls into a third camp as Zoom AI Companion is ‘free’ if the customer has a paid Zoom subscription. Also, Zoom charges for Zoom Docs and an upcoming Zoom AI Companion add-on will incur a $12 monthly per user fee.

So, the question becomes should GenAI features cost extra or not? There is no easy answer and not necessarily a right or wrong one.

Delivering GenAI features involves great expense such as R&D and infrastructure required to support power and other needs. Given the expense it may not be sustainable to offer GenAI features for free and vendors may need to pivot and charge extra.

On the other hand, it is possible that the allure of receiving GenAI capabilities at no cost has spurred adoption of those platforms to such a degree that the extra subscription revenue more than makes up for the added expense. Fee-based vendors may find they can afford to offer GenAI ‘freebies.’

Unfortunately, it’s not clear if data exists to support either scenario. What is clear is that GenAI is quickly being woven into the fabric of society. Soon, GenAI features will be regarded as standard issue on team collaboration platforms and no longer worthy of commanding a premium. However, the costs incurred in providing them will remain. What will most likely happen is a bait and switch; additional fees for GenAI will evaporate only to be baked into a higher platform subscription price. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.