ETFBOOK announced on September 16 a $13 million growth round led by Expedition Growth Capital, with existing investor BlackFin Capital Partners participating. The Zurich based company, which trades as SquaredData AG, did not disclose a valuation. ETFBOOK runs a data and analytics platform for the ETF market, covering more than 11,000 funds across Europe and the United States with T+1 data on flows, trading activity, holdings and segment analytics. It sells to ETF issuers, asset managers, liquidity providers and hedge funds, and reports more than 70 enterprise clients in EMEA with recurring revenue growing at more than 100% a year. Pawel Janus is chief executive and Bartlomiej Igla is chief technology officer. The team works from Zurich, London, New York, Paris and Cracow, with a Hong Kong office planned. Proceeds will extend data coverage into more ETF markets, add analytics to the web application, fund new teams in New York and Hong Kong, and strengthen the Cracow delivery hub. The wealth management relevance is downstream. Global ETF assets stand near $25 trillion and 1,341 new ETFs have launched in 2026 so far, so advisors, model portfolio builders and due diligence teams are selecting from a universe that expands faster than most research tools follow it. Fund level data on flows, liquidity and holdings is what makes that selection defensible, and the vendors supplying it sit between the issuers and the platforms that reach advisors. Link to Press Release

Charles Schwab and Anthropic bring Claude to 16,000 independent RIAs Schwab Advisor Services partnered with Anthropic to deliver Claude for Financial Advisors to more than 16,000 registered investment advisors, with authenticated access to Schwab Advisor Center inside Claude and integrations across CRM, custody, portfolio reporting, planning and meeting tools. Schwab is currently the only RIA custodian offering the integration, which places custodial data inside the assistant rather than alongside it and makes the custody relationship, not the software stack, the distribution channel for advisor AI. Knote: While there is a chance it's less impressive than the headline, my bet is that Anthropic will win the Most Crowded Booth award at IMPACT in October. Read More → Anthropic releases Claude for Financial Advisors with eleven wealth connectors Anthropic released Claude for Financial Advisors, adding eleven connectors spanning Addepar, BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Envestnet, iCapital, Orion, SS&C Black Diamond, Wealthbox, Wealth.com, Vanguard and Zocks, alongside eight packaged workflow skills. Bundling pre-meeting prep, rebalance review, estate and tax briefs and a compliance skill that screens client-facing language against the SEC Marketing Rule moves the assistant out of general chat and into named advisor workflows, with regulated activities still routed through human approval. Read More → Accenture launches Trusted Wealth Ops on Salesforce and Claude Accenture introduced Accenture Trusted Wealth Ops, an AI-native offering combining Salesforce's governed data and execution layer with Anthropic's Claude, targeting 24-hour onboarding, a not-in-good-order rate below 5% and up to 25% higher advisor productivity. The guardrail list — permissions, approved data sources, human approvals, exception routing and audit logging — carries as much of the pitch as the agents do, which is how systems integrators are now selling AI into enterprise wealth. Knote: Reducing onboarding to "just 24 hours" does not sound all that impressive these days, but heading in the right direction. Read More → Ritholtz Wealth Management picks Hadrius to govern firmwide Claude deployment Ritholtz Wealth Management, a national RIA with more than $9.4 billion in assets, selected Hadrius to monitor Claude Enterprise activity firmwide through Claude's Compliance API and to consolidate all communications archiving onto the platform. Archiving AI interactions the way firms already archive email answers a supervision question that SEC and FINRA obligations imply but do not yet specify, making governance tooling a precondition of an enterprise rollout rather than a purchase that follows one. Knote: We continue to feel that AI Governance, which compliance is a part of, will be the biggest net new add to roadmaps in 2027. Read More → AI usage costs are rewriting the WealthTech vendor's pricing model The Oasis Group argues per-seat licensing breaks once every summary and drafted communication carries variable cost, noting usage-based and hybrid pricing grew from 30% of software companies in 2019 to roughly 85% by 2024 and that 73% of AI vendors now charge separately for AI features. With 78% of IT leaders reporting unexpected AI-related charges in the past year, the renewal questions become whether the AI feature is capped or metered, what happens when a cap is crossed, and who absorbs a mid-term increase from the vendor’s own model provider. Knote: The Oasis team is spot-on again. We have looked at several companies where the unit economics actually break at scale due to AI costs. Read More → Vanguard survey finds advisors adopting AI but still short on client time Vanguard surveyed 549 U.S. advisors in July 2026 and found 72% want more time for prospecting and deepening client relationships, while AI use concentrates in drafting emails at 38%, research at 35% and meeting notes at 27%. Compliance concerns and firm hesitation lead the barriers at 37%, ahead of insufficient learning time at 34% and skill gaps at 31%, which places the constraint on adoption inside the firm’s own approval process rather than in the technology. Knote: A few surprising/questionable stats: only 27% use AI notetakers (seems really low) and approximately 2/3 use model portfolios (seems really high). Also note that 37% mentioned compliance as a blocker. Read More → Zeplyn opens Agent Studio and an MCP server to wealth firms Zeplyn introduced Agent Studio, which lets firms define custom agents in plain language, and a Model Context Protocol server that gives outside AI applications and proprietary advisor tools governed access to those agents, client intelligence and more than 60 wealth-specific tools. Publishing an MCP server concedes that the vendor’s own interface may not be where advisors work, and shifts the competition to governed access — role-based permissions, audit trails, PII redaction and human review — rather than ownership of the screen. Read More → Verapath and GenTrust launch VIRA, an AI-native platform for RIAs Verapath and GenTrust formed a joint venture and made VIRA generally available, unifying CRM, planning, portfolio, performance reporting, tax and data warehouse capabilities behind one interface, one system of record and one view of every client. GenTrust, with nearly $6 billion under management, has run its own advisory business on VIRA’s predecessor for a decade, which is the claim the launch rests on: an operating platform proven in production before it was productized. Read More → Broadridge brings its digital assets platform to U.S. wealth firms Broadridge expanded its next-generation digital assets platform from Canada into the United States, giving broker-dealers, RIAs and wealth managers cryptocurrencies and tokenized real-world assets through its DLX tokenization platform, with Anchorage Digital and Galaxy Digital as initial partners. Delivering wallets and institutional-grade custody through existing books and records systems, rather than through a separate venue, is what moves digital assets from a side allocation into the same operating model as the rest of the portfolio. Knote: The real win here would be seeing tokenized private assets right alongside your public assets. Crypto is interesting, but not the big win, especially after the Clarity Act failed its procedural vote this week. Read More → SEC approves a conditional Innovation Exemption for tokenized NMS stocks The Commission approved a temporary, conditional exemption allowing permissioned trading of tokenized NMS stocks on Tokenized Securities Venues, subject to symbol limits, volume caps calibrated to limit up, limit down tiers, public transaction data and technology safeguards. The relief is deliberately narrow and the Commission is soliciting data-supported comment on its design, so the near-term effect is a supervised test of onchain venues rather than an opening of tokenized equity trading. Knote: I think tokenized public equities is a "nice to have" but the real game changer is tokenized private assets and anything that gets us closer is a thumbs-up in my book. Read More → State Street goes live with RIA custody built on Apex State Street launched State Street Wealth Services, an RIA clearing and custody business built on Apex Fintech Solutions’ platform with State Street acting as introducing broker, expecting its first anchor client within a couple of months and citing roughly 40 more RIA firms in the pipeline. Targeting firms with $1 billion or more and hiring from Altruist, LPL and TD Ameritrade puts a new entrant into a custody market already being reshaped by Vanguard’s purchase of Altruist, with legacy platform-placement economics named as the opening. Read More → Aberdeen Portfolio Solutions selects Jacobi for its model portfolio service Aberdeen Portfolio Solutions Limited, responsible for £3.4 billion across six MPS solutions, selected Jacobi’s Model Portfolio Management System to industrialize rebalancing, deliver forward-looking analytics and complement its compliance and governance framework. Institutional-grade tooling arriving in UK MPS is the same industrialization that reshaped US TAMPs, and it moves DFM competition from model construction toward the rigor and auditability of the rebalancing process behind it. Knote: This is the sort of thing that needs to happen across the entire European MPS market and something we see as a key WealthTech theme over the next 5 years. Check out this conference in London Sept 29 by TWM: UK MPS - Talking Technology Read More → Canadian dealers under 500 advisors make technology the recruiting pitch All five smaller dealers in Investment Executive’s Dealers’ Report Card named technology a priority, with Carte Wealth automating roughly 80% of onboarding through IntellectAI, Portfolio Strategies building its proprietary Responsive App and Sterling Mutuals adding Continuum AI notetaking to OneBoss. KPMG’s Geoffrey Barthelot notes smaller firms cannot match larger dealers on compensation but can adopt sooner because legacy systems are not in the way, which turns the absence of scale into the argument for a differentiated advisor platform. Knote: It's hard to differentiate an aggregator with the standard "we take care of your back office." This survey highlights technology as a differentiator and we agree. We would probably add "payouts" and "leads" in the differentiation mix as well. Read More → Collective launches Compass for advising on clients’ pre-IPO equity Collective launched Compass, an AI platform pairing research across thousands of private companies with client-specific exit scenarios, tax modeling and execution spanning stock sales, loans, option exercises, exchange funds and charitable strategies. With more than 900 U.S. unicorns valued at roughly $6 trillion and a median 14 years from founding to IPO, illiquid paper wealth has become a planning problem advisors have to answer rather than an event they can wait out. Knote: I am not 100% sure this needs to be "AI", but they were on the main stage at Future Proof and private stock liquidity and planning is a hot topic Read More → Grantd and Collective Liquidity partner on private market analytics for advisors Grantd Equity integrated Collective Liquidity’s private market data, analytics and wealth products, giving advisors on a platform supporting more than 400 RIA firms and $15 billion in assets under administration access to Compass and the Collective Exchange Fund. Pairing equity compensation data with a tax-deferred diversification vehicle addresses concentration risk where it originates, and extends the same tooling into Grantd for Work as an employee benefit at private and public companies. Knote: An equity comp company teaming up with a 351 exchange company. Makes sense. Read More → Quartz launches in the UK with £2.75 million pre-seed Quartz opened in the UK with £2.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Daphni, with Outward VC and K Fund participating, and reported more than £10 million of member assets tracked since testing began at the start of the year. Built by a former Revolut expansion lead on proprietary connectors across pensions, ISAs, savings and investment accounts, with FCA registration as an Account Information Service Provider, the aggregation layer rather than the assistant is the harder asset here. Read More → AI ATC - A quick summary of interesting AI launches for those with AI fatigue Hamachi.ai Secures U.S. Patent for Privacy-First Agentic AI Communications in Wealth Management https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/hamachi-ai-secures-u-s-patent-for-privacy-first-agentic-ai-communications-in-wealth-management SS&C Enhances Wealth Management Offerings with Black Diamond AI https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/ss-c-enhances-wealth-management-offerings-with-black-diamond-ai Indian Bank launches AI-TARA voice banking, Smart Wealth and IND Cash Optima at Global Fintech Fest 2026 https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/indian-bank-launches-ai-tara-voice-banking-smart-wealth-and-ind-cash-optima-at-global-fintech-fest Dynasty Financial Partners Builds its Next-Generation AI OS for Wealth on Claude https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/dynasty-financial-partners-builds-its-next-generation-ai-os-for-wealth-on-claude Conquest Brings Verifiable AI Financial Advice Engine Directly to Independent Advisors and RIAs https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/conquest-brings-verifiable-ai-financial-advice-engine-directly-to-independent-advisors-and-rias FutureVault Launches AI Agents, Bringing Governed End-to-End Workflow Execution to the Document Layer https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/futurevault-launches-ai-agents-bringing-governed-end-to-end-workflow-execution-to-the-document-laye Modern Life launches Modern Life Workspace, The AI operating system for financial protection https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/modern-life-launches-modern-life-workspace-the-ai-operating-system-for-financial-protection Jump Introduces AI-Assisted, Real-Time Account Opening with Schwab Advisor Services and Fidelity https://www.wealthtechstrategy.com/post/jump-introduces-ai-assisted-real-time-account-opening-with-schwab-advisor-services-and-fidelity Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss any of the above or if you just want to chat about WealthTech. 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Uyeda, M. T. (2026, September 17). Statement on the innovation exemption. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/uyeda-statement-innovation-exemption-091726 The Commission approved a temporary, conditional exemption, the Innovation Exemption, allowing limited trading of tokenized NMS stocks on certain onchain venues called Tokenized Securities Venues, or TSVs. The exemption gives TSVs temporary relief from concerns that they may be viewed as an exchange under the Exchange Act when they offer tokenized NMS stocks for permissioned trading through automated market makers and liquidity pools. TSVs relying on the relief must meet specified conditions including public notice, transaction transparency, stoppage coordination, books and records, and technology safeguards. The relief is designed to be controlled, subject to symbol limits and volume caps calibrated by limit up, limit down tiers. U.S. dollar-denominated transaction data, including price, size, time, pool address, end-of-day pool size and daily volume, will be publicly available at regular intervals. The exemption includes tailored relief for certain liquidity providers contributing proprietary capital that meet conditions including disclosure and recordkeeping. The Commission is expressly soliciting feedback on many aspects of the framework and its current design, seeking detailed, data-supported comments to evaluate tradeoffs and shape future proposals. Knote: I think tokenized public equities is a "nice to have" but the real game changer is tokenized private assets and anything that gets us closer is a thumbs-up in my book.

Jump introduces AI-assisted, real-time account opening with Schwab Advisor Services and Fidelity. (2026, September 14). Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260914989068/en/Jump-Introduces-AI-Assisted-Real-Time-Account-Opening-with-Schwab-Advisor-Services-and-Fidelity Jump, an artificial intelligence platform for financial advisors and professionals, launched AI-assisted, real-time account opening that allows advisors to move from initial conversation to a validated and signed application within a typical client meeting. The workflow consolidates client forms, CRM records, custodian portals, and signature tools into a single process, reducing manual work and identifying missing information before submissions become not-in-good-order rejections. The platform now supports integrations with two major custodians, Schwab Advisor Services and Fidelity, the latter through Dispatch. Jump expanded the AI-assisted account opening it announced in June by incorporating real-time data capture from meetings, documents, forms, and CRM systems simultaneously, populating required fields live when information gaps emerge. Research from Dispatch indicates account opening typically requires over 150 data points and two to three hours of manual effort. Jump estimates its workflow reduces that effort to approximately 10 minutes, potentially returning roughly 65 annual operational hours for practices opening 30 accounts a year. The real-time account opening capability enters limited beta for Jump customers, with availability varying by firm type and custodian requirements.

Britton, D. (2026, September 17). Q&A: State Street goes live with custody offering. WealthManagement.com. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/state-street-launches-new-ria-custody-business State Street went live this week with State Street Wealth Services, a new RIA clearing and custody business that the firm is now actively marketing to wealth managers. The firm intends to bring on its first anchor client, a top U.S.-based RIA, within the next couple of months, and has approximately 40 additional RIA firms in the pipeline. The offering is built on the digital clearing and custody platform of Apex Fintech Solutions, in which State Street took a minority interest last October, with State Street acting as introducing broker and adding its own layer of data, services and AI capabilities around Apex's APIs. State Street sold a majority stake in its Wealth Manager Services business to FNZ about five years ago and continues to hold a minority stake in that business. The unit hired Jennifer Stokes, former head of clearing operations at Altruist, as head of wealth custody and clearing, and Pete Dorsey, previously of LPL Financial, Altruist and TD Ameritrade, as chief revenue officer for wealth custody and clearing. John Plansky, executive vice president and head of State Street Wealth Services, said the offering targets RIAs with $1 billion or more in assets rather than smaller firms, and that State Street has decided not to operate as a wealth manager itself. Plansky cited legacy custodian practices such as charging ETF providers for platform placement, an issue analysts raised in connection with Vanguard's decision to buy Altruist, as an opening for a new entrant.

Zeplyn introduces Agent Studio and MCP Server, giving wealth management firms control of the intelligence and the interface. (2026, September 15). Zeplyn. https://www.zeplyn.ai/newsroom/zeplyn-introduces-agent-studio-and-mcp-serve Zeplyn announced Zeplyn Agent Studio and the Zeplyn Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, allowing wealth management firms to create custom AI agents and make them available through applications their teams already use. Agent Studio enables firms to define how AI applies their expertise using plain-language instructions covering how an agent should operate, what information it should consider, and what its output should look like. Cited agent examples include preparing annual review briefs, producing meeting recaps in consistent structures, and drafting client emails matching the firm's voice. Monica Cervantes, financial advisor at PAX Financial Group, said her firm created an agent that pulls non-financial client details into one view, including direct quotes from the client. The Zeplyn MCP Server extends agents beyond the Zeplyn interface, giving MCP-compatible AI applications and proprietary advisor tools governed access to agents, client intelligence, and more than 60 wealth-specific tools. Era Jain, co-founder and CEO of Zeplyn, stated that firms gain AI infrastructure they can build on, allowing them to shape that intelligence as their business evolves. Both capabilities operate within Zeplyn's existing governance architecture, including role-based access, audit trails, PII redaction, configurable data retention, and human review, and client data is not used to train underlying models.

Got, J. (2026, September 18). Smaller dealers invest in tech to compete for advisors. Investment Executive. https://www.investmentexecutive.com/report-cards/dealers-report-card-2026/smaller-dealers-bet-on-tech-to-compete-for-advisors/ All five of the smaller dealers in Investment Executive's annual Dealers' Report Card, covering firms with fewer than 500 advisors, named technology as a priority, with a common goal of automating compliance, client onboarding and portfolio management. Geoffrey Barthelot, a partner in strategy and operations for insurance and wealth management at KPMG Canada, said smaller firms often cannot compete with larger dealers on compensation and bonuses but can adopt new technology sooner because legacy systems are not a hurdle. Carte Wealth began using technology from U.K.-based IntellectAI, backed by Intellect Design Arena Ltd., in August for advisor and client onboarding, automating roughly 80% of the onboarding process under a partnership the dealer said formally began in February. Peak Financial is using its MyPeak Konnect platform to create front and back office efficiencies, with a Conquest-backed planning tool plugged into it and testing fees waived to drive advisor adoption. Portfolio Strategies built its proprietary Responsive App alongside VieFund after previously using Broadridge, and plans to add corporate accounts, trades, transfers and practice-management data so the app eventually becomes the primary login location for its advisors. Portfolio Strategies also built its own ETF platform, giving clients access to ETFs at $0.01 per share with a $1 minimum trading charge while the dealer absorbs custody fees. Sterling Mutuals runs its OneBoss back-office platform and recently partnered with Continuum AI to provide advisors with notetaking AI integrated into OneBoss. Knote: It's hard to differentiate an aggregator with the standard "we take care of your back office." This survey highlights technology as a differentiator and we agree. We would probably add "payouts" and "leads" in the differentiation mix as well.

Jacobi Inc. (2026, September 18). Jacobi selected by Aberdeen Portfolio Solutions Limited as a technology vendor to accelerate growth of its managed portfolio service. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jacobi-selected-by-aberdeen-portfolio-solutions-limited-as-a-technology-vendor-to-accelerate-growth-of-its-managed-portfolio-service-302881526.html Jacobi has been selected by Aberdeen Portfolio Solutions Limited (APSL) to enhance the discretionary fund manager's model portfolio capabilities. Jacobi's institutional-grade Model Portfolio Management System (MPMS) will enhance and industrialize APSL's model portfolio rebalancing process, deliver forward-looking analytics and complement its compliance and governance framework. APSL will integrate a range of proprietary models, tools and processes into its own private version of the Jacobi software. Mark Hopcroft, Head of Investment Solutions at Aberdeen Adviser, said the partnership further enhances the efficiency of internal processes and supports better outcomes for advisers and their clients. Tony Mackenzie, Co-Founder and CEO of Jacobi, said the MPMS is built to bring efficiency and institutional-grade rigor from portfolio construction through to rebalancing and oversight. As at 31 March 2026, APSL was responsible for £3.4bn of assets under management across all six MPS solutions, an offering launched in 2011. Founded in 2014, Jacobi provides open-architecture investment technology to asset and wealth managers, pension funds and consultants, and has seen strong demand from wealth managers for institutional-grade MPMS technology. Knote: This is the sort of thing that needs to happen across the entire European MPS market and something we see as a key WealthTech theme over the next 5 years. Check out this conference in London Sept 29 by TWM: UK MPS - Talking Technology

Anthropic. (2026, September 14). Claude for Financial Advisors. https://claude.com/blog/claude-for-financial-advisors Anthropic released Claude for Financial Advisors, a suite of connectors and workflow skills aimed at the research, preparation, and documentation tasks that keep advisors from client-facing work. Eleven new connectors bring in data from Addepar, BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Envestnet, iCapital, Orion, SS&C Black Diamond, Wealthbox, Wealth.com, Vanguard, and Zocks, joining existing Claude connectors including Microsoft 365, Salesforce, DocuSign, Box, FactSet, S&P Global, and Morningstar. The Charles Schwab connector reaches Schwab Advisor Services custodial data including balances, positions, transactions, cost basis, alerts, and money-movement status. The plugin bundles eight skills: advisor onboarding, alternative investments brief, compliance and AI policy, estate and tax brief, portfolio rebalance review, post-meeting notes and follow-up, pre-meeting prep, and prospect intake. Investment recommendations, client communications, compliance determinations, and other regulated activities remain subject to human review and approval, with the compliance skill screening client-facing language against the SEC Marketing Rule. Some partners are also offering their own plugins, with BlackRock launching one for Advisor Center alongside existing plugins from S&P Global and LSEG. The plugin is available now through the Cowork plugin browser, with Enterprise plans recommended for registered investment advisers because they include audit logs that support recordkeeping, and firms requesting a new license before the end of September 2026 receiving a one-time usage credit.

Silva, A. (2026, September 16). Quartz launches in the UK with £2.75M to give everyone their own personal banker. Quartz. https://myquartz.ai/newsroom/quartz-launches-in-the-uk Quartz opened in the UK and raised £2.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Daphni, with participation from Outward VC and K Fund. Angel investors in the round include Kantox founder Philippe Gelis and former N26 and Kraken chief product officer Gilles BianRosa. Co-founder and CEO André Silva previously led global expansion at Revolut and built Quartz with co-founder Mateus Mesquita. The platform brings a member's holdings into one place and pairs them with Charlie, an intelligence that follows the markets and surfaces what is relevant. Quartz has been testing since the start of the year and reported more than £10 million of member assets already tracked on the platform. The company built its own aggregation technology for brokers and pensions and registered with the FCA as an Account Information Service Provider. Quartz built proprietary connectors across pensions, ISAs, savings and investment accounts, and will admit UK waitlist members in batches by invitation.

Verapath. (2026, September 16). Verapath and GenTrust launch VIRA, an AI-native wealth management platform for RIAs. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verapath-and-gentrust-launch-vira-an-ai-native-wealth-management-platform-for-rias-302881229.html Verapath and GenTrust announced a joint venture and the general availability of VIRA, an AI-native wealth management platform for RIAs. VIRA unifies CRM, planning, portfolio, performance reporting, tax and data warehouse capabilities behind one user interface, one system of record and one view of every client. The platform was designed AI-native rather than retrofitted, so data flows through a single system of record and routine operational work is automated. VIRA is available now to RIAs and wealth management firms, with demo requests handled through virawealth.ai. Alec Crawford, CEO of Verapath, said the platform is built for everyone at an RIA and is backed by quality, safety, governance and regulatory compliance. Jim Besaw, CIO of GenTrust, said the firm has run its own advisory business on VIRA's predecessor for the past decade. GenTrust, founded in 2011, has nearly $6 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, Miami and Puerto Rico.

O'Connell, J. (2026, September 14). How AI is rewriting the wealthtech vendor's business model. The Oasis Group. https://theoasisgrp.com/article/how-ai-is-rewriting-the-wealthtech-vendors-business-model/ Per-seat licensing rests on the assumption that each additional login carries near-zero marginal cost, an assumption AI breaks because every AI-generated summary, automated workflow, and drafted client communication carries a variable cost that scales with usage rather than headcount. Usage-based and hybrid pricing grew from 30 percent of software companies in 2019 to roughly 85 percent by 2024, while pure per-seat pricing fell from 21 percent to 15 percent. Seventy-three percent of AI vendors now charge separately for AI features rather than folding them into a flat subscription. Atlassian bundles a fixed number of AI credits into its standard plans and charges per conversation beyond the allotment, HubSpot charges by the block of AI credits above the subscription tier, and Zendesk prices its AI resolution agent per resolved conversation instead of per seat. Buyers are advised to confirm three terms before signing an AI-enabled renewal: whether the AI feature is priced as unlimited, capped, or metered; what occurs when a cap is crossed, including throttling or automatic overage billing at an undisclosed rate; and who absorbs a mid-term rate increase from the vendor's own AI provider. Seventy-eight percent of IT leaders reported unexpected charges tied to AI features or consumption in the past year, and most of those charges surfaced after the contract was signed. Recommended negotiating steps include requesting firm-level consumption data before renewal discussions begin, securing a defined cap with a disclosed overage rate in place of an open-ended fair-use clause, and locking any consumption-based rate for the full contract term. Knote: The Oasis team is spot-on again. We have looked at several companies where the unit economics actually break at scale due to AI costs.