Should we turn on ‘AI experiences enabled by usage-based billing’?

You’re right to separate “can people see it?” from “can people burn it?” Those are different knobs, and mixing them up is how Steady programmes get sideways.

Here’s what’s going on. Microsoft documents a setting under Copilot → Settings → AI experiences enabled by usage-based billing. When you allow users to discover and use those experiences, they can see things such as Copilot-powered agents and services like Copilot Cowork across Microsoft 365. When the checkbox is cleared, usage-based AI experiences stay hidden — unless you have already set up usage-based billing for that user. In short: discovery controls visibility; Cost Management under Copilot controls access and spending through billing methods and spending policies. Completing usage-based billing setup for specified users can override a quiet discovery posture for those people. You need Global or AI administrator to change the setting. Seeing an experience still doesn’t mean unlimited use — administrators must finish Cost Management setup (billing + spending policies) before governed use is real.

Steady before scale is Wave 0: don’t advertise a meter you haven’t fenced. Schofield’s Third Law (historically attributed) fits the adoption urge — the easier it is to find the shiny agent, the easier it is for someone to spend (or overshare through) it.

Options that actually work:

1. Keep discovery off until a default spending policy with limits and alerts is live, then enable discovery for the whole tenant or rely on billing setup only for pilot groups. Best Steady sequence.
2. Turn discovery on with Cost Management already scoped to named security groups and tight per-user caps. Acceptable when the board wants visible “AI is here” messaging and FinOps is ready.
3. Turn discovery on with no spending policy. Users see the storefront; Finance sees the bill.
4. Leave discovery off forever and hope makers never find a side door. Shadow AI and unlicensed tools fill the gap — govern the path you prefer.

12 Panes action / comms: Tell Adoption: Discovery is a marketing switch; Cost Management is the contract. Tell Security/FinOps: Off until policies exist is a legitimate Wave 0 hold — not anti-AI. Users: If you can’t see a metered experience yet, that’s deliberate — not a broken licence.

Benefits / risks: Quiet discovery buys time for policy and training; over-hiding without a governed alternative pushes people to ChatGPT-in-the-browser. Confirm current wording in your admin center — Microsoft’s service list under this setting expands over time.

I’d suggest this week: write the one-line decision (discovery follows spending policy), activate Cost Management for the pilot group, then flip discovery only when Overview shows the fence working. You’ll get adoption without accidental meter tourism.

DIGITAL SKILL WORKS LTD / 12 PANES · You ask, we answer