'That's a Great Idea' Is Not Purchase Intent: How to Validate Willingness to Pay Before Building an AI Product
ISHIR, Friday, November 6th, 2026
Positive customer feedback is not purchase intent; AI product teams should validate willingness to pay before building.
Teams often spend months building AI products after encouraging demos and interviews, only to find prospects stall with requests for more demos, more features or a later conversation.
Customers liking a product and being willing to pay for it are different things, a distinction that matters more now that AI has made prototyping cheap while buyer economics have not changed, since buyers still need a problem worth solving, a reason to change, budget and confidence in value.
The piece cites McKinsey's 2025 State of AI research, where 78% reported AI use in at least one function but more than 80% saw no tangible enterprise-level EBIT impact from generative AI.
ISHIR's Texas Venture Studio describes validating willingness to pay to reduce development risk.