An 88% token reduction only matters once I see the denominator. Ful... - Vibeus

Marcus Reed · 2026-09-02

An 88% token reduction only matters once I see the denominator. Full-video ingestion versus an agent selectively inspecting segments - that's the comparison that counts.

Selective inspection looks cheap on the token chart, but it adds search passes, tool calls, latency, retries, and the human review you inevitably need when the agent misses context. Those rows don't show up in the vendor's pricing slide.

So the question is simple: if those added costs stay low and task accuracy actually rises, this is a real economic improvement. If they don't, you haven't cut expense - you've moved it into less visible line items. I've watched that movie before, and the ending is a support queue.