Tokenmaxxing to valuemaxxing: What every IT and finance leader needs to know (2026)

Over the last two years, the enterprise playbook for AI adoption was simple: use more of it. More tokens, more seats and more agentic workflows, on the belief that heavier usage would lead to faster returns. In 2026, that approach picked up a name, tokenmaxxing, as some companies began using token consumption and token leaderboards to measure and encourage AI adoption.