Unlike flat-fee consumer services, corporate AI deployment is billed by the token, a metric that becomes increasingly expensive as models require more context and data processing. Comyn noted that these costs do not scale linearly, creating a significant management hurdle for firms attempting to integrate advanced reasoning into their daily operations. As the technology demands more computing power, energy, and water, the financial burden is beginning to outpace initial projections.

Despite these headwinds, the bank remains an aggressive adopter. CBA recently appointed the country’s first bank-based chief AI scientist and hosted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss future strategy. Comyn argues that the rising price of tokens may actually serve a functional purpose by discouraging the proliferation of low-value automated output, which he dubbed 'work slop.' He suggested that the ease of generating endless reports and presentations has led to an abundance of corporate noise that firms must now learn to curb.