The situation
A Fortune 100 industrial manufacturer was renewing a $15M Adobe agreement covering creative and document licensing across its global operations.
This was not a first engagement. Deal IQ has run more than 60 negotiations for this client over four years, across Tier 1 platforms and specialist vendors.
What we found
Deal IQ brought in someone from our expert network who had sold for Adobe. Adobe changes its pricing approach frequently, so what mattered was how Adobe is pricing this quarter rather than what a benchmark from last year would suggest.
The increase was presented as the value of AI capability added to the Adobe platform. The client was not using it. Paying for AI features because they have been added to a product, rather than because the business has adopted them, is one of the most common sources of uplift we see right now.
This client now gives us a mandate to price every material contract before it is signed, which is how a renewal like this one gets looked at in the first place.
The result
- Renewal as proposed
- $15.4M
- Final negotiated price
- $12.2M
- Reduction against the renewal
- 21%
- Savings
- $3.2M
One renewal in a relationship now past 60 negotiations and approaching $20M in cumulative savings for this client.
Takeaways
- A $15M renewal reduced by 21% without changing what the client buys
- A mandate to price every material contract before it is signed
- Coverage spans Tier 1 platforms and specialist vendors
Frequently asked questions
Does the benefit reduce over time on a long client relationship?
No. How far any one contract moves depends on the circumstances, but this client is past 60 negotiations with Deal IQ and this renewal still moved 21%. They now give us a mandate to price every material contract before it is signed, which tells you more about the value of the relationship than any single result does.
Why does Adobe pricing change so often?
Adobe revises its commercial approach regularly. A benchmark from a year ago describes a market that has already moved, which is why we work from current vendor knowledge.
Can we refuse to pay for AI features we are not using?
Yes, and it is one of the most common conversations we are having right now. Vendors across the software market are building AI capability into their platforms and pricing it into renewals whether or not the customer has adopted it, often presented as platform value rather than as a line item you can decline. The distinction that matters is between capability that has been added to a product and capability your business is actually using. Deployment data usually settles it quickly. Where adoption is low, the uplift is negotiable, and on this renewal it came out entirely.
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