Advise

Build-vs-Buy & Vendor Selection

A fair comparison of building your own solution, buying a platform, or combining both, for a specific need. We tell you which wins and why.

Typical duration: 3–8 weeks
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Build-vs-Buy & Vendor Selection

Advise Typical duration: 3–8 weeks

A fair comparison of building your own solution, buying a platform, or combining both, for a specific need. We tell you which wins and why.

Who it is for

Teams about to commit budget to a tool or a build.

What you get

  • Options with total cost and risk
  • Scoring against your criteria
  • A clear recommendation
  • A short list of vendors and the questions to ask them
  • Where a partner platform fits (see Partners)

How it works

1. Define the need2. Shortlist3. Compare and test4. Recommend
Build-vs-Buy & Vendor Selection
CostSpeedControlRiskBuildBuyMix Illustrative example, not client data.
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Frequently asked questions

When should you build AI versus buy it?

Build when the use case is core to your competitive advantage, requires your proprietary data, or needs deep customisation that no vendor can deliver. Buy when a vendor solution solves 80 percent of the problem, the underlying model is not a differentiator, or time-to-value matters more than control.

How do you evaluate AI vendors objectively?

Run a structured RFP with scored criteria: model performance on your data, data residency compliance, integration complexity, total cost of ownership, vendor viability and the quality of implementation support. Vendor demos on synthetic data are not a substitute for a proof of concept on yours.

What is total cost of ownership for an AI system?

TCO includes the licence or API cost, integration and customisation, ongoing maintenance, retraining frequency, internal staff time, and the cost of errors or failures. Vendor pricing is typically the smallest line item once the full picture is drawn.

How long does a build-vs-buy analysis take?

A structured analysis — requirements definition, vendor shortlisting, scored evaluation and a recommendation — typically takes three to four weeks. A proof-of-concept comparison with two to three vendors adds another four to six weeks.

Partner platform we set up See all partner platforms →

What Usually Comes Next

Need a platform for this? See Partners. Need people to deliver it? See AI Specialists.

Get Started

Tell us what you want to achieve with AI.

Start with an AI Readiness Assessment: a scored list of use cases and a clear roadmap.

Book an AI Assessment