LayerX Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Representative Director & CEO Yoshinori Fukushima; hereinafter "LayerX"), which aims to digitize all economic activities, conducted the "Survey on the Actual Status of AI Cost Management in Companies 2026" targeting 400 individuals responsible for managing and understanding AI utilization costs at their companies.

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Survey Background and Objectives

In recent years, AI agents that autonomously process tasks have become increasingly widespread. These AI systems complete tasks through multiple inference steps, leading to higher token consumption and API usage compared to traditional chat-based interactions. Consequently, managing AI utilization costs and return on investment (ROI) is emerging as a new management challenge for companies.

Based on the hypothesis that companies are transitioning from the "introduction and utilization" phase of AI to the phase of "managing costs and ROI," LayerX conducted this survey to investigate the actual situation.

*Tokens: The smallest unit of text that AI processes. Costs are incurred based on usage volume.

Survey Results Summary

73.3% of companies responded that AI utilization costs are "already a management issue" or "will become a management issue within one year."

66.5% felt an increase in AI utilization costs compared to the previous year. Additionally, 65.5% responded that costs have increased due to the use of AI agents.

Monthly AI utilization costs average approximately 2.74 million yen, with 64.8% of companies incurring "500,000 yen or more" per month.

82.8% perceive challenges in "understanding" AI utilization costs.

The most specific challenge cited was "Concerns about security and information leakage risks" (30.5%). This was followed by "Understanding the actual situation of employee personal reimbursements, etc." (25.1%) and "Inability to link billing amounts with usage details" (24.2%), with difficulty in seeing "who used what, for what, and how much" being a top concern.

Current AI utilization cost tracking is limited to broad categories such as "usage amounts by department/team" (32.7%). However, the top item companies wish to track in the future is "data linking AI usage amounts with results/ROI" (21.8%), indicating a growing need to manage costs including ROI.

Survey Overview

Survey Name: Survey on AI Utilization and Cost Management in Companies 2026

Survey Method: Internet Survey

Survey Period: June 12, 2026 - June 13, 2026

Target Audience: Individuals managing and understanding AI utilization costs in companies across various industries, including manufacturing, services, and information and communications.

Valid Responses: 400

Detailed Survey Results

1. 73.3% of companies responded that AI utilization costs are "already a management issue" or "will become a management issue within one year."

When asked if AI utilization costs are expected to become a "management issue" at their company, 19.0% responded "already a management issue" and 54.3% responded "will become a management issue within one year." This indicates that a total of 73.3% perceive AI utilization costs as an important upcoming management issue (Figure 1).

2. 66.5% felt an increase in AI utilization costs compared to the previous year. Additionally, 65.5% responded that costs have increased due to the use of AI agents.

Regarding changes in AI utilization costs, 20.0% reported "significantly increasing" and 46.5% reported "slightly increasing," totaling 66.5% who feel AI utilization costs have increased compared to the previous year (Figure 2).

Furthermore, when asked about changes in costs associated with the use of coding agents and business agents, 16.5% reported "significantly increasing" and 49.0% reported "slightly increasing," totaling 65.5% who responded that costs have "increased" due to the use of AI agents (Figure 3).

3. Monthly AI utilization costs average approximately 2.74 million yen, with 64.8% of companies incurring "500,000 yen or more" per month.

When asked about monthly AI utilization costs for the entire company, 26.3% reported "500,000 yen to less than 1 million yen," 20.5% reported "1 million yen to less than 5 million yen," 8.8% reported "5 million yen to less than 10 million yen," and 9.3% reported "10 million yen or more." Cumulatively, 64.8% of companies incur "500,000 yen or more" in monthly AI utilization costs. The calculated average was approximately 2.74 million yen (Figure 4).

4. 82.8% perceive challenges in "understanding" AI utilization costs.

When asked if they felt challenges in understanding AI utilization costs, 19.5% responded "feel significant challenges" and 63.3% responded "feel some challenges." In total, 82.8% "feel challenges" in understanding AI utilization costs (Figure 5).

5. The most specific challenge cited was "Concerns about security and information leakage risks" (30.5%). This was followed by "Understanding the actual situation of employee personal reimbursements, etc." (25.1%) and "Inability to link billing amounts with usage details" (24.2%), with difficulty in seeing "who used what, for what, and how much" being a top concern.

When asked about specific challenges in understanding AI utilization costs, the most frequent response was "Concerns about security and information leakage risks" at 30.5%. This was followed by "Understanding the actual situation of employee personal reimbursements, etc." (25.1%), "Inability to link billing amounts with usage details" (24.2%), "Difficulty in measuring AI utilization results or ROI" (24.2%), and "Difficulty in grasping usage amounts" (24.2%).

These top responses highlight that the difficulty in visualizing the actual usage situation – "who used what, for what, and how much" – is a major challenge (Figure 6).

6. Current AI utilization cost tracking is limited to broad categories such as "usage amounts by department/team" (32.7%). However, the top item companies wish to track in the future is "data linking AI usage amounts with results/ROI" (21.8%), indicating a growing need to manage costs including ROI.

When asked about currently trackable items for AI utilization costs, the highest was "AI usage amounts by department/team" at 32.7%, followed by "AI usage amounts by project/case" (28.8%) and "Status of application/approval flows" (27.7%) (Figure 7).

When asked about items they wish to newly manage or track, the most frequent response was "Data linking AI usage amounts with results/ROI" at 21.8%. This was followed by "AI usage amounts by project/case" (21.5%) and "AI usage amounts by user/account" (19.8%). While current tracking is limited to broad categories like organizations and projects, the need to manage costs including ROI, going beyond simple usage amount tracking, is increasing (Figure 8).

Conclusion

This survey reveals that the proliferation of AI agents is leading to increased AI utilization costs, which are beginning to be recognized as a new management issue for companies. Many companies are experiencing cost increases compared to the previous year, and this trend is intensifying with the expanding use of AI agents.

However, even as costs are becoming a management issue, many companies do not have a sufficient grasp of the actual situation. Numerous companies cite challenges such as "security and information leakage risks," "understanding employee personal reimbursements," and "inability to link billing amounts with usage details." At the root of these issues is the "lack of transparency in usage," making it difficult to see "who used what, for what, and how much." This not only poses a challenge for cost management but also carries potential risks related to security and governance.

Amidst this, companies' focus is shifting from "first using AI" to "what results are achieved at what cost." While current tracking is limited to broad categories like departments and teams, there is a growing demand to link AI usage amounts with results and ROI, and to manage costs including investment returns.

For sustainable AI utilization, AI utilization costs will likely shift in positioning to become a management resource that should be managed from an ROI perspective, similar to personnel or advertising expenses. Visualizing users, purposes, token consumption, and results will facilitate investment concentration in high-impact areas and make it easier to identify and review unnecessary expenditures.

LayerX believes that managing AI utilization costs is not merely about reducing expenses, but about enabling companies to assess the validity of their AI investments and proceed with AI utilization with peace of mind. We aim to support companies in advancing AI utilization from the "usage" stage to the "management and improvement" stage, balancing expanded utilization with appropriate cost management.

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Introducing Bakuraku AI Token Advisor

To address these challenges in understanding and managing AI utilization costs, LayerX offers "Bakuraku AI Token Advisor."

Bakuraku AI Token Advisor is a service that supports the understanding and analysis of token consumption and utilization costs incurred from the use of AI tools and AI agents. As AI usage expands, it visualizes who is using AI, for what purpose, and how much, supporting the optimization of AI investments and internal usage management.

To continuously expand AI utilization, a mechanism is essential that not only promotes usage but also continuously tracks costs, usage status, and results, and operates with an eye on ROI. Bakuraku AI Token Advisor supports companies in advancing their AI utilization from the "usage" stage to the "management and improvement" stage.

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About Bakuraku

Bakuraku is an AI agent service that streamlines operations such as approvals, expense reimbursements, corporate cards, invoice reception, invoice issuance, attendance management, and payroll. It also supports proxy services for invoice reception and approval. By integrating AI agents, it automates back-office operations and creates a new way of working where each employee can focus on core tasks. It supports over 20,000 companies, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large corporations, in creating a more efficient work environment and achieving business growth. https://bakuraku.jp/

About LayerX Inc.

LayerX is an AI company with the mission to "Digitize all economic activities." Through a combination of businesses including the back-office AI agent service "Bakuraku," Fintech, and the enterprise-向け AI platform "Ai Workforce," we solve social issues in Japan and create a future where human creativity is better unleashed by the power of AI.

Established: August 2018

Representatives: Representative Director & CEO Yoshinori Fukushima / Representative Director & CTO Yuki Matsumoto

Location: Ginza Shochiku Building 5F, 1-13-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Corporate Site: https://layerx.co.jp/

Recruitment Site: https://jobs.layerx.co.jp/

Contact Us: https://layerx.co.jp/contact

Business Sites:

- Bakuraku: https://bakuraku.jp/

- Ai Workforce: https://getaiworkforce.com

- Mitsui & Co. Digital Asset Management: https://corp.mitsui-x.com/

- ALTERNA: https://alterna-z.com/

- AgenticSec Inc.: https://agenticsec.tech/

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  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: Survey結果
  • Organizations: Ai Workforce