FUNDA Survey Finds Six Firms Balancing AI Expansion With Cost Controls

FUNDA’s sixth enterprise AI survey describes companies expanding AI use while tightening spending controls. Based on interviews conducted from September 19 through October 11, 2026, the report covers six businesses across media, financial services, pharmaceuticals, brewing and healthcare. Most expect spending growth to moderate, although the pharmacy and health insurance group anticipates a broadly stable growth rate. Model selection is one reported source of savings. According to the fintech interviewee, some teams cut spending by roughly half after training despite higher token consumption. Separately, the healthcare interviewee estimates that changing model assignments could lower API expenses by 20%–30%; automated routing remains under evaluation, so those savings are prospective rather than demonstrated. The report also describes an auto lender planning to drop an annual feature-engineering subscription costing about $80,000–$100,000 after developing a Claude-based alternative. Meanwhile, the healthcare group reports rising API expenditure as more workflows enter production. These findings reflect a small interview sample, not a market-wide measure, and distinguish reported operating improvements from quantified financial returns.