How to buy AI without getting burned
Most AI money is lost to the wrong vendor rather than the wrong idea. The pricing traps, the diligence questions, and the failure patterns worth recognising before you sign anything.
Everything we've written on this
When to hire vs embed AI engineers
When to hire vs embed AI engineers: two senior seats open four months is the signal to stop recruiting. Embedded AI Teams start at $3,000–$7,500/engineer/mo.
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Why switching AI vendors keeps you at zero
Third vendor, same line. Why switching AI vendors resets you to zero, what the last engagement should have left, and how to make this the last.
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When an AI project fails: five early tells
Five tells in the first meeting, before any code. Each is a question you can ask, and the answers say whether an AI project fails or should be funded.
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Hire AI in-house vs agency: who should build
You've decided to build custom. Hire AI in-house vs agency depends on whether AI is core to your product, and who operates it in year two.
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Bait-and-Bill: the AI pricing trap to watch for
The headline number isn't the price, it's the entry fee for an open-ended meter. The five contract clauses that give the trap away, and what to ask for.
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Questions to ask AI agency before you sign
The questions that separate a firm that ships from one that demos — what each is really testing, and what a bad answer sounds like. Ask ours the same ones.
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A software factory, not a software agency
A software factory is a quality-gated line of senior engineers and AI agents, not bespoke projects, and why the mid-market should hire one.
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Build vs buy AI agents: a decision guide
Build vs buy AI agents: when to build in-house, when to buy, and the data on why most internal builds stall.
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The forward-deployed model, explained for buyers
What it actually means to embed engineers in your operation — and why it beats a deck-and-walk-away consultancy for the 20–500 person company.
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Put a forward-deployed team on it.
If this is the kind of work you're trying to get into production, a 30-minute discovery call is the fastest path to a scoped plan.