DeepSeek launched its V4-Pro model at significantly higher price points than its Flash variant, with output token costs reaching about $3.96 per million tokens during peak usage, compared with much lower rates for its V4-Flash model.

“Token cost has been the practical ceiling on scaling AI beyond isolated pilots,” Chandak said. At lower price points, he added, running agent-based workflows at production scale becomes more viable.

He also said enterprises are placing greater emphasis on factors beyond model performance. “The base model layer is commoditizing,” Chandak said, adding that differentiation will increasingly depend on data readiness, governance, and orchestration layers.