IFS Asset-Based Pricing Upends Enterprise Software Costs — Charging for Work, Not Workers
Enterprise Tech / Industrial AI | 4 min read
IFS, the leading provider of Industrial AI software, has announced a new pricing model that fundamentally challenges the way enterprise AI is bought and deployed. Unveiled at IFS Connect in Paris, the model moves away from traditional per-user licensing and instead allows organisations to pay based on the operational assets they manufacture, manage, and maintain — such as vessels, components, infrastructure, or production equipment. The result is a commercial framework designed to let enterprises deploy Industrial AI wherever it creates value, without constraint and without the fear of escalating costs tied to headcount.
From Per-User to Per-Asset — A Fundamental Shift
Traditional enterprise software pricing has long been anchored to the number of users accessing a system — a model that creates an inherent tension for asset-intensive industries where thousands of people and machines interact with operational data daily. IFS's new approach breaks that link entirely. Under the asset-based model, a company managing 400 offshore energy assets pays based on those 400 assets, not the 12,000 people and machines that need to access the associated data. This structure enables organisations to scale projects and expand AI deployment across their operations without the licensing costs spiralling in line with user growth.
The pricing model aligns software investment directly with operational reality — what a business actually manufactures, manages, and maintains — rather than the size of its workforce or the number of logins provisioned. IFS describes it as a move toward pricing the work, not the workers.
"This is a clear message to our customers: rather than rationing users, IFS wants you using AI everywhere you can to create value. Our customers should not have to choose between automating their operations and controlling their software costs. This progressive move on pricing removes that trade-off entirely. We're not pricing the workers. We're pricing the work."
— Mark Moffat, CEO, IFS
Unlocking Enterprise-Wide AI Adoption Across Industrial Sectors
IFS says the pricing shift is designed to meet a critical moment for industrial organisations, which it describes as being on the cusp of unprecedented expansion in what they can produce, maintain, and deliver using Industrial AI. The company argues there is no reason for that potential to be constrained by licensing models built for a different era. The new approach is intended to support broader AI adoption across sectors including aerospace and defence, energy and utilities, construction and engineering, manufacturing, services, telecommunications, life sciences, and maritime.
By removing the cost barriers traditionally associated with scaling software access, IFS believes organisations will feel free to deploy AI-driven capabilities wherever they generate operational value — accelerating automation without the anxiety of runaway software spend. IFS also believes the move will put pressure on the broader enterprise software industry to rethink how it packages and prices its products, potentially signalling a wider shift toward outcome-aligned commercial models across the sector.
Industry Analysts Back the Move
"IFS moving into the next realm of pricing means buyers have flexibility in the agentic world. IFS's new pricing model helps companies operationally scale their investment to the value levers it needs to run the business. This new methodology will help clients sustain their economic value."
— Mickey North Rizza, Group Vice-President, Enterprise Software, IDC
"Asset-centric organisations have made the shift to expect to work with technology vendors that can align the partnership in a way for shared benefit and flexibility, enabling growth as market conditions evolve."
— Aly Pinder Jr, Research VP, Aftermarket Services Strategies, IDC
The endorsement from IDC analysts reinforces the view that the enterprise software market is undergoing a longer-term structural shift — away from charging for access and toward charging based on value delivered. IFS's model represents one of the more concrete and commercially deployable steps toward that vision seen in the industrial software space to date.
Key Takeaways
- • IFS has announced a new asset-based pricing model for its Industrial AI software, replacing traditional per-user licensing and allowing organisations to pay based on the operational assets they manage — such as vessels, components, infrastructure, or production equipment.
- • The core shift: a company managing 400 offshore assets pays based on those 400 assets, not the 12,000 people and machines accessing the data — decoupling software costs from headcount and enabling unconstrained AI deployment at scale.
- • CEO Mark Moffat's philosophy: "We're not pricing the workers. We're pricing the work." The model is designed to eliminate the trade-off between automating operations and controlling software costs, giving customers freedom to deploy AI wherever it creates value.
- • Target sectors include aerospace and defence, energy and utilities, construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, life sciences, and maritime — all industries where operational assets far outnumber software users.
- • IDC analysts back the move, stating it gives buyers flexibility in the agentic AI world and reflects a broader long-term industry shift away from charging for access toward charging based on value delivered — with IFS potentially forcing competitors to rethink their own pricing conventions.