The Three Deployment Modes

Every AI project I see fail fails the same way: someone picked the build mode before they picked the problem.

There are only three ways to deploy AI in a business:

1. Buy it off the shelf. Someone already solved your problem. A subscription beats a build every time it fits.

2. Deploy pre-built IP. The tool exists. It needs your data and your process wired in. Days, not months.

3. Build custom. Nobody has solved your problem. Now you build, and you own what you build.

The expensive mistake is running mode 3 on a mode 1 problem. Knowing which mode you’re in saves more money than any vendor negotiation.

Name the mode before you name the vendor.