Issue Continuously running agents make cost control a design requirement, not an afterthought

Summary

Deloitte argues that cost control for agents has to be designed in from the start because agents run without pause. Poorly configured interactions between agents can trigger chains of actions that consume resources unpredictably and send costs soaring. Organisations therefore need dedicated financial operations frameworks to monitor and control agent spending and to account for token-based pricing. These frameworks track costs in detail through resource tagging, real-time monitoring, automated resource management such as autoscaling and rightsizing, and governance for AI-specific spending. The report also suggests leaders compare the cost profiles of agents with those of human employees when planning deployments. Its infrastructure chapter adds that agentic AI, with its continuous inference, is the biggest driver of rising AI bills.