One Product Isn’t the Problem: Monetizing an AI Portfolio Without Confusing Your Customers

What happened

Portfolios have expanded from modules to editions, cloud services, add-ons, and now AI capabilities. A lot can be achieved through an expanded portfolio.

IDC research commissioned by Thales shows that customers with consolidated agreements “spend more, churn less, and deepen their relationship with the vendor over time.” According to IDC research on software vendors from June 2026, 55% of software vendors believe that enhanced monetization would bring a 6% to 10% uplift in revenue, and 29% expect more than 10%.

McKinsey research shows top-quartile B2B SaaS companies achieve 113% net revenue retention, growing 13% from existing customers alone, against 98% for bottom-quartile peers. Software vendors can boost revenue by tracking customer usage across products, while AI accelerates pricing and consumption decisions.

It is hard to find any software vendor that sells just one product. However, there is one thing to note.

Purchasing four products from the same vendor does not mean they will be treated as a single vendor, as each product has its own licensing, measurement, and sales terms. The Size of the Prize Existing customers are an obvious place to look for growth.

IDC has also linked a SaaS provider’s ability to capitalize systematically on new features and capabilities to net revenue retention and growth. Companies that excel at this see it in their valuations too.