TLDR Tech / Founders
Will AI Actually Lower R&D as a % of Revenue?
Everyone assumes AI will slash R&D budgets. The math doesn't work that way. Token costs are dramatically cheaper per unit of code produced, but Jevons Paradox kicks in hard. When something gets cheaper, you use more of it. Companies aren't cutting engineers. They're shipping more features faster and hiring more people to steer AI output. R&D as a percentage of revenue is going to stay flat or rise because every competitor gets access to the same productivity gains. The savings don't hit your bottom line. They get absorbed by the market.
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