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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Forward-deployed vs staff aug vs a fixed SOW
Forward-deployed vs staff augmentation vs a fixed SOW — pick by who owns the outcome in 18 months. Start Embedded AI Teams at $3,000–$7,500/engineer/mo.
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Vendor Roulette: why switching AI vendors keeps you at square one
Third vendor, same starting line. Why each switch resets you to zero, what the previous engagement was supposed to leave behind, and how to make this one the last.
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Solution looking for a problem: how to spot a doomed AI project
Five tells that show up in the first meeting, long before any code. Each one is a question you can ask out loud — and the answers tell you whether to fund it, reshape it, or kill it.
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In-house, freelancer, or agency: who should build your AI agent
You've decided to build custom. The remaining question is who staffs it — and the honest answer depends on two things: whether AI is core to your product, and who's operating 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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Nine questions to ask any 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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Software factory, not software agency: how the mid-market ships in the AI era
A software factory industrializes software production — a quality-gated line of senior engineers and AI agents, not bespoke projects. Here's what that means, how it differs from an AI factory and a dev agency, and why the mid-market should hire one.
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Build vs. buy AI agents: a decision guide for operators
Should you build an AI agent in-house or buy a finished one? The honest framework — with the data on why most internal builds stall, and where each path actually wins.
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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.