Why it matters
The piece supplies the framework the obituaries lack: Azeem Azhar's productivity J-curve — returns dip before they climb because value requires redesigning workflows around the models, not maximizing consumption of them.
Tokenmaxxing read
Declaring usage metrics dead doesn't supply a replacement. The desk's read: cost-per-accepted-outcome is stage three of the J-curve, and most orgs killed their token leaderboards without building any measurement to replace them.
Source takeaway
Token leaderboards lasted weeks, but the durable claim is structural: real AI ROI appears only when firms rebuild processes and business models around the technology, and incumbents thinking too small leaves the opening for AI-native challengers.
