Are Tokens The New Currency? A Primer For Business

InnovationAIAre Tokens The New Currency? A Primer For BusinessByNisha Talagala,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Entrepreneur and technologist in AI and AI Literacy.Follow AuthorMay 09, 2026, 10:30am EDTMay 09, 2026, 10:33am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Signange of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is displayed during the MWC (Mobile World Congress), the world's biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona on March 3, 2025. Surrounded by investment and innovation projects, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicks off today in Barcelona amid a context of euphoria but also tensions over artificial intelligence (AI), whose rapid advancement is shaking up the tech sector. (Photo by Manaure Quintero / AFP) (Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesAs AI revolutionizes all industries, businesses have had to grapple with a new term and concept, tokens. Tokens are now a foundational expense for businesses as well as a critical item in return on investment and employee performance assessment. Terms like tokenmaxxing, the business behavior of maximizing token assets, are spreading beyond Silicon Valley. Companies are publicly assessing employees by token use, with both too high and too low values generating concern. What are tokens, and what should your business leaders know about them?What Is A Token?A token is the unit of an AI’s processing. Originating from the natural language processing technology at the heart of ChatGPT and other large language models, a token is either a group of words, a word, or part of a word. Each AI is capable of processing some number of tokens at a time (called the content window). The AI services are billed by tokens, and depending on the level of service purchased, may have fixed or variable token prices.A Practical ExampleSay that an employee is using an LLM to revise an email. The first mess...