AI Costs 3,700% More in Pakistan

According to an analysis by Densight Labs, AI services can be up to 3,700 percent more expensive for Pakistani workers because most subscriptions are priced in US dollars while salaries in Pakistan are considerably lower.

AI Subscription Takes a Bigger Share of Pakistani Salaries

Web Desk: The analysis estimates that an AI subscription costing around Rs6,000 per month represents about 15 percent of Punjab’s Rs40,000 minimum wage.

By comparison, the same cost is equivalent to roughly 0.4 percent of an illustrative $5,000 monthly salary in the United States. Based on this income comparison, the cost burden of AI tools is around 3,700 percent higher in Pakistan.

Junior Workers Face a Longer Payback Period

For a junior worker earning Rs60,000 per month, the analysis estimates that around 48 minutes of work would need to be saved every day to recover the cost of a Rs6,000 AI subscription.

For a department head, however, the required time saving would be only around six minutes per day.

This suggests that providing the same AI subscription to every employee may not be financially practical for Pakistani companies, particularly when it comes to lower-paid workers. 

AI Offers Greater Value for Senior Employees

The financial case becomes stronger when AI is used by senior employees or for tasks that are repeated frequently.

For example, if AI makes 30 percent of a department head’s work 25 percent faster, an employee earning Rs500,000 per month could save approximately Rs37,500 worth of working time.

Compared with a Rs6,000 monthly AI subscription, this would represent a return of roughly six times the subscription cost.

AI Can Speed Up Employee Training

AI may also help companies make new employees productive more quickly.

The analysis cites research involving more than 5,000 support workers, which found that new employees using AI became 34 percent more productive. Workers with two months of experience using AI reportedly reached the productivity level of employees with six months of experience.

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For a worker earning Rs60,000 per month, reducing the training period by four months could potentially recover around Rs120,000 in output. This compares with approximately Rs72,000 spent on an AI subscription over one year.

Automation Could Reduce Repetitive Costs

Another potential benefit is the automation of repetitive tasks.

The analysis estimates that a minimum-wage worker costs around Rs9 to process an invoice, while AI could perform the same extraction for less than Rs3 under the assumptions used in the analysis. 

This could allow employees to focus on exceptions, decision-making and more complex tasks rather than routine data extraction. 

AI Does Not Always Deliver Savings

AI does not automatically improve productivity or reduce costs.

The analysis cites research showing that consultants using AI for tasks outside the technology’s capabilities were 19 percent less likely to provide a correct answer.

It also references an MIT estimate that only around 5 percent of organisations have successfully turned enterprise AI into measurable financial gains. 

These findings suggest that companies need to carefully evaluate where AI is being used rather than assuming that every AI subscription will generate savings.

AI Technology Is Becoming Cheaper

The cost of AI performance has been falling rapidly.

According to the analysis, the price of achieving a fixed level of AI performance has declined by around 13 times per year since 2023.

However, the report argues that Pakistani businesses cannot simply wait for AI services to become cheaper because the technology could also change the economics of labour-intensive industries.

BPO and Call Centre Sector Could Face Pressure

AI could reduce the incentive for companies to outsource certain labour-intensive services.

Pakistan’s call centre and BPO exports crossed $300 million during the first 11 months of FY2025-26, making the sector one of the areas that could face increasing pressure as AI becomes more capable.

Companies Should Focus on Specific Use Cases

For Pakistani companies, the analysis suggests focusing on areas where AI can clearly reduce costs or save employees significant amounts of time instead of providing subscriptions to every worker.

The key question is therefore not simply whether an AI tool is worth buying, but whether it can generate enough savings or additional output to cover its own cost.