Every organization considering AI faces a fundamental question: should we build our own infrastructure or buy a platform? Here's a framework to help you decide.
The Build Argument
Advantages: - Complete customization - No vendor lock-in - Full control over roadmap - Potentially lower long-term costs - Intellectual property ownership
Hidden Costs: - Team building (6-12 months) - Infrastructure setup (3-6 months) - Ongoing maintenance (2-3 FTEs) - Security and compliance - Keeping up with AI advances
The Buy Argument
Advantages: - Faster time to value - Proven, tested infrastructure - Continuous improvements - Expert support - Lower upfront investment
Considerations: - Ongoing subscription costs - Vendor dependency - Customization limits - Data security concerns
Decision Framework
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1. Core Competency Assessment
Build if: - AI is your core product - You have unique requirements no platform addresses - You have a strong AI engineering team
Buy if: - AI enables your core business (but isn't the core) - Your requirements are largely standard - You lack specialized AI talent
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2. Time-to-Value Analysis
Build Timeline:
Buy Timeline:
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3. Total Cost of Ownership
Build Costs (3-Year): - Engineering team: $1.5M - $3M - Infrastructure: $200K - $500K - Maintenance: $300K - $600K - Total: $2M - $4.1M
Buy Costs (3-Year): - Platform subscription: $300K - $600K - Integration: $50K - $100K - Training: $20K - $50K - Total: $370K - $750K
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4. Risk Assessment
Build Risks: - Technical debt accumulation - Key person dependency - Falling behind state-of-art - Security vulnerabilities
Buy Risks: - Vendor discontinuation - Price increases - Feature gaps - Data concerns
Our Recommendation
For most organizations, buy first, build selectively later:
1. Start with a platform to validate use cases quickly 2. Identify areas requiring customization 3. Build custom components that integrate with the platform 4. Consider full build only if you outgrow platform capabilities
Why Tesan AI
We've designed our platform to minimize buy-side concerns:
- No lock-in: Export models in standard formats (ONNX, TFLite) - Extensible: Custom code integration points - Transparent pricing: No surprise costs - Data security: On-premise options, SOC 2 compliance
Conclusion
The build vs buy decision isn't binary. The best approach often combines platform capabilities with selective custom development. Focus your engineering resources on what makes you unique.
Ready to explore? [Request a demo](/demo) and see how Tesan AI can accelerate your AI journey.