The fourth pillar.

Research and essays on AI tokens as compensation — from the team building TknBudget. New writing roughly weekly. The full archive is below.

• May 1, 2026

  Tokens that vest

  Why AI compensation will follow equity's path — and what it means for the fourth pillar.

• May 8, 2026

  The anti-tokenmaxxing thesis

  Tokens are only compensation if they buy outcomes. Without attribution, they're a budget line waiting to be cut.

• May 15, 2026

  The fourth pillar

  Cash, equity, and benefits stopped being the whole comp stack. The fourth pillar is here. The system of record isn't.