Decision guide
Build vs Buy AI: Enterprise Evaluation Framework
A practical framework for deciding whether to buy, configure, integrate or build an AI capability.
Key principles
Buy when a mature product already meets the workflow, security, integration and economics requirements.
Build or customise when the workflow, data advantage, product differentiation or control requirements are genuinely distinctive.
Hybrid approaches are common: buy infrastructure or models while building the differentiated workflow, data and integration layer.
Decision checklist
✓ Compare total operating cost, not only licence price.
✓ Include security, integration, data migration, change management, support and exit costs.
✓ Preserve portability where vendor concentration or lock-in creates material risk.
How DataLgorithmics approaches the decision
Define the operating problem, identify the evidence required, compare realistic options, establish success and control criteria, and make the smallest justified investment that can answer the decision.