SBMUpdated 23 Oct 2026
Early version, updated weekly. Every claim is dated and sourced. Think something is wrong? Dispute it.
Map / 2. Rides / Selling the finished work

Pay per outcome

R2 RidesSelling the finished workLearning loopRisingScaling
Placement: a judgment drawn from the evidence, open to correction (dispute it).

The model

Definition
The vendor bills a per-unit fee only when the AI agent completes a defined successful outcome (a resolved support ticket, a booked appointment, a completed purchase), rather than charging for seats or for every interaction regardless of result.
In one line
The vendor is paid only when the AI agent completes a defined outcome, such as a resolved support ticket.
What compounds
Resolution rates rise with each model generation while the price per outcome holds, so vendor margin widens as the agent learns.
Who accelerates
Buyers pay for results rather than for access, which aligns the vendor with the customer. Contact-center staff are displaced from routine work.
What it displaces
Per-seat support software and per-agent outsourcing.
Stops working when
Where an outcome cannot be defined clearly enough to trust the bill, or large buyers prefer predictable fixed costs (Ada moved back to per-conversation pricing).

Evidence

Companies 3
Evidence items 4
Grades 4A 0B
Latest dated 2026-09
Counter-evidence 2

The three labels

2. Rides · loop gain positive. Each step of the curve makes its own loop stronger.

Selling the finished work · money lands in the outcome, not the tool or the hours.

Learning loop · use, data, better product, more use.

Same rung and family

Vertical AI priced by the work
Discovery paid by milestone
AI roll-ups of services firms
The ambient scribe
Driverless rides
Robots as a service
AI-tutored schooling
AI-run insurance

Named companies 3 companies · grade per item

CompanyClaimDateGrSource
Fin (Intercom)
US · scaleup · best A
 Fin AI Agent is priced at $0.99 per resolution, with a base plan of $49/month including 50 resolutions and additional resolutions billed per unit2026-09AFin (Intercom) Help Center
Salesforce (Agentforce)
US · public · best A
 Agentforce launched a Conversations pricing option at $2 USD per conversation, alongside a Flex Credits pay-per-action model at $500 per 100,000 credits (20 credits, i.e. $0.10, per action), effective from May 15, 20252025-05-15ASalesforce Help
Sierra
US · scaleup · best A
 Sierra states its outcome-based model charges customers only for specific, valuable outcomes (resolved conversations, completed purchases, saved memberships), not for seats or messages2024-12-10ASierra
Sierra reported surpassing $150M in ARR entering its third year, having reached $100M ARR in seven quarters and its first $50M quarter, with named customers including ADT, Cigna, Gap, Rivian and Sutter Health2026-02-06ASierra

Counter-evidence Reversals, failures and disputes

Ada, an early proponent of per-resolution billing, moved away from outcome-based pricing to flat per-conversation pricing because enterprise customers wanted predictable costs regardless of whether the AI resolved, escalated, or the customer abandoned the chat2026Fin.ai
Salesforce's original $2-per-conversation Agentforce pricing (unlike Intercom's per-resolution model) charged customers the same whether the agent succeeded or failed, drawing criticism for value misalignment and cost unpredictability, and was overhauled within roughly seven months2025-05Monetizely

Sources 6

Fin (Intercom) Help Center fin.ai · 2026-09
Salesforce Help help.salesforce.com · 2025-05-15
Sierra sierra.ai · 2024-12-10
Sierra sierra.ai · 2026-02-06
Fin.ai fin.ai · 2026
Monetizely getmonetizely.com · 2025-05