Will increased AI efficiency push firms away from hourly billing toward fixed-fee pricing?

Multiple members expect this shift to accelerate. One pointed out that if practitioners have to spend extra time documenting or disclosing reduced billing due to AI efficiency, that friction alone will push more firms toward fixed-fee models. Another member, drawing an analogy to a car mechanic who bills 'book time' rather than actual time spent, argued that firms that have invested in learning and building AI-driven workflows should be compensated for that expertise and speed rather than penalized with lower hourly bills — supporting a flat-fee approach with solid scoping done up front. A third member noted that half of their current work already involves responding to client-submitted LLM outputs, and expects client expectations for AI-assisted service to keep growing. As AI models improve and hallucination rates decrease, the group expects this to further erode the viability of hourly billing, moving the industry toward positioning firms as 'AI native' and pricing for quality and speed under fixed-fee arrangements. No firm conclusion was reached — this was described as new territory the group will have to navigate.