NEA’s Tiffany Luck says enterprises are still figuring out their AI ROI

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Summary

NEA partner Tiffany Luck discusses on TechCrunch's Equity podcast how enterprises are still grappling with AI ROI, noting trends like tokenmaxxing and cost overruns at companies like Uber and Meta.

Tokenmaxxing was the hottest trend in Silicon Valley earlier this year, with CEOs encouraging employees to push AI usage as far as it would go. Then the bill came due. Uber reportedly blew through its annual AI budget in a few months, some companies cut Claude licenses for parts of their org, and Meta killed its internal leaderboard.  This tension between […]
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# NEA’s Tiffany Luck says enterprises are still figuring out their AI ROI | TechCrunch Source: [https://techcrunch.com/video/neas-tiffany-luck-says-enterprises-are-still-figuring-out-their-ai-roi/](https://techcrunch.com/video/neas-tiffany-luck-says-enterprises-are-still-figuring-out-their-ai-roi/) [Tokenmaxxing](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/17/tokenmaxxing-is-making-developers-less-productive-than-they-think/)was the hottest trend in Silicon Valley earlier this year, with CEOs encouraging employees to push AI usage as far as it would go\.[Then the bill came due](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/05/the-token-bill-comes-due-inside-the-industry-scramble-to-manage-ais-runaway-costs/)\. Uber reportedly blew through its annual AI budget in a few months, some companies cut Claude licenses for parts of their org, and Meta killed its internal leaderboard\. This tension between hype and ROI is exactly where[NEA partner Tiffany Luck](https://www.nea.com/team/tiffany-luck)lives these days\. She got her start convincing companies that e\-commerce was the future, and now she’s all in on AI, especially when it comes to the possibilities for “magic moments” in the consumer business\. On this episode of TechCrunch’s[Equity](https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/)podcast, Luck joins Rebecca Bellan to talk about the future of personal agents, her thoughts on this year’s AI IPOs, and how startups are stepping in to help enterprises track return on AI spend\. Subscribe to Equity on[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TechCrunch),[Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780),[Overcast](https://overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity),[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=rZDFHv2sQUul_g94iCRgpQ)and all the casts\. You also can follow Equity on[X](https://twitter.com/EquityPod)and[Threads](https://www.threads.net/@equitypod), at @EquityPod\. Topics [AI](https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/),[AI adoption](https://techcrunch.com/tag/ai-adoption/),[AI agents](https://techcrunch.com/tag/ai-agents/),[AI IPO](https://techcrunch.com/tag/ai-ipo/),[anthropic ipo](https://techcrunch.com/tag/anthropic-ipo/),[Enterprise AI spend](https://techcrunch.com/tag/enterprise-ai-spend/),[Forward deployed engineers](https://techcrunch.com/tag/forward-deployed-engineers/),[NEA partner](https://techcrunch.com/tag/nea-partner/),[OpenAI](https://techcrunch.com/tag/openai/),[tiffany luck](https://techcrunch.com/tag/tiffany-luck/),[Venture](https://techcrunch.com/category/venture/),[venture capital](https://techcrunch.com/tag/venture-capital/) Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast\. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four\-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband\. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University\. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing[theresa\.loconsolo@techcrunch\.com](mailto:[email protected])\. [View Bio](https://techcrunch.com/author/theresa-loconsolo/) ## Most Popular ### Newsletters Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news ## Related

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The article critiques the current AI mania in enterprises, where skyrocketing costs often outweigh ROI due to inefficient usage like token maxing. It advocates for a dual focus on organizational fluency and algorithmic cost mitigation, such as Observation Masking, to transform AI from a capital burner into a value creator.