Nick Thomson

Why AI companies need real-time economic control

AI products incur real costs in real time, but most billing systems were built to record what happened. They can't control what happens next. As of Q1 2026, the gap between infrastructure costs and billing capabilities is one of the most common unit economics problems that AI companies discover too late. This article explains why billing and economic control are separate problems, and what it looks like when both are solved.

On MPP, wallets, and what agents actually need

Stripe and Tempo launched the Machine Payments Protocol yesterday. The scope is deliberately narrow. Understanding precisely what it covers makes the adjacent problem more visible. This piece covers what MPP doesn't solve: wallet management, real-time balance tracking, and margin observability, and how the billing layer above the protocol needs to work.

How AI companies adopt real-time billing without replacing their stack

Most companies don't replace their billing infrastructure. They evolve toward it. Shadow Mode, Hybrid Mode, and Full Wallet Control are three stages that let AI companies gain real-time economic control without the risk of a billing migration.

Clay just rewired its pricing. Here's what it means.

Clay overhauled its pricing model this week, cutting data costs by 50–90% and introducing a two-meter system that separates enrichment costs from platform work. The changes materially lower the barrier to entry and signal a deliberate bet on volume over margin. Here's the full breakdown.