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Glossary entry

Total Cost of Ownership

The full cost of building, operating, governing, and sustaining a technology capability over time.

Why it matters

TCO matters in AI because model price alone rarely reflects the real economic burden; infrastructure, data, governance, support, and portfolio overhead often shape whether an initiative remains viable.

AI TCO is best understood through a layered framework rather than a single line item. For the broader model, see AI TCO Framework.