In the new era of usage-based AI billing, token efficiency has shifted from a minor optimization to a critical skill for developers and organizations. As GitHub Copilot scales across enterprise environments, understanding the mechanics of context windows, model selection, and agent quality is essential for maintaining developer productivity without inflating operational costs. This session provides a deep dive into the "token economy" of Copilot, moving beyond the misconception that more context always equals better outputs.
Attendees will explore the mechanics of token consumption: from cached input tokens to the compounding error problem in multistep agent flows - and learn actionable strategies to optimize workflows. We will examine practical techniques including how to implement deterministic guardrails, refine agent instructions, leverage custom agents and skills, and use pre-filtering strategies to drastically reduce unnecessary token expenditure.

Presented at DevOpsDays Graz 2026