AI Business Model Pattern #2: The Orchestration Premium Model

From Trend: Agent-as-Product Shift

When models commoditize, the value migrates to orchestration. The router—not any single model—becomes the product.

The Pattern

Build a coordination layer that selects, routes, and combines multiple models to achieve optimal outcomes.

How It Works

• Develop routing logic that matches tasks to optimal models
• Abstract away model selection from end users
• Capture margin on every transaction, regardless of which model executes

Case Study: Salesforce Agentforce

Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 exemplifies this pattern. Pricing at $2 per conversation (later $0.10 per action via Flex Credits), Salesforce doesn’t sell models—it sells orchestrated outcomes.

By December 2025, nearly 10,000 paid Agentforce contracts demonstrated that the model works:

• Reddit: Deflected 46% of support cases
• Adecco: Handled 51% of candidate conversations after hours

Unit Economics

Per-conversation or per-action pricing creates consumption-based revenue that scales with customer value delivered. No model lock-in means switching costs accumulate at the orchestration layer, not the model layer.

Strategic Implication

The ensemble architecture is now the default. Multi-model routing capability is more defensible than model capability itself.

This is part of a comprehensive analysis. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.