AI Shelfware Audit

AI Shelfware Audit

Sooner or later the board asks what you are getting for the AI spend. This is the fastest way to answer with a number. A fixed fee, fixed scope, four week audit that measures what you pay for AI against what is actually used, across Copilot seats, AI API consumption and the AI line items inside your vendor agreements, then hands you a prioritised recovery plan.

What we measure

The three places AI shelfware hides

Copilot and per seat AI tools

Licensed seats against active use, licence type against actual need, and what the unused portion costs over the remaining term.

AI API consumption

Committed spend against consumed tokens across your AI API agreements, and whether the commitment tier still matches reality.

AI line items in existing agreements

The AI charges that have appeared inside Microsoft, Salesforce and other vendor paper at renewal, often without anyone deciding to buy them.

How it runs

Four weeks, four steps

01

Scope

One call to agree the estate in scope and the access needed. The fee is fixed and agreed here, before anything starts.

02

Measure

We gather usage and entitlement data across seats, APIs and agreements. Read only access, no agents installed, no disruption.

03

Quantify

We put a number on the gap between what you pay and what is used, and project it over each remaining contract term.

04

Report

A board ready report with the numbers, the evidence behind them, and a prioritised recovery plan you can act on with or without us.

What you get

A board ready report that quantifies unused AI spend, shows the evidence behind every number, and sets out a recovery plan in priority order: what to cancel now, what to renegotiate at renewal, and what is actually earning its keep.

The fee is fixed and agreed before we start. No day rates, no scope creep, no obligation to take the recovery work with us.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What counts as AI shelfware?

Any AI spend that is not returning use: Copilot and per seat AI licences assigned but inactive, API commitments running below the committed tier, and AI line items inside vendor agreements that nobody consciously chose. If you are paying for it and cannot show usage, it counts, and it goes in the number.

What access do you need to run the audit?

Read only reporting access to the relevant admin consoles, such as the Microsoft 365 admin centre for Copilot usage, plus copies of the agreements and invoices in scope. We do not install anything, and we work under NDA as standard.

How long does an AI shelfware audit take?

Four weeks from access being granted to the report landing. The scope call happens before that clock starts, so the elapsed time from first conversation to board ready number is typically five to six weeks.

How much does the audit cost?

It is a fixed fee, agreed before we start, based on the size of the estate in scope. There are no day rates and no creep: the number we agree is the number you pay. Ask us for the figure on the scoping call.

What happens after the report?

The report is yours, and the recovery plan works whether or not we stay involved. Some savings need no negotiation at all, just licence changes you can make immediately. Where the recovery runs through a renewal, many clients ask us to carry it into contract review or retained commercial defence, but there is no obligation to.

The audit is the first tier of our AI Commercial Defence practice. If the recovery runs through a renewal, that is where it goes next.

Get the number before the board asks for it

One scoping call, a fixed fee, and four weeks later you know exactly what your AI spend is returning.

Book a scoping call