Glossary
Build vs. buy
What does build vs. buy mean?
Build vs. buy is the decision between building a custom AI solution, buying an existing product, or doing neither and keeping the work as it is.
Why it matters
Many AI projects are bought or built before anyone knows what the work needs. Deciding with evidence about the workflow, its volume, and how a tool performs on your own cases avoids paying for shelfware or rebuilding something that already exists.
Example
Invoice matching goes to a proven accounts-payable tool (buy), the one-of-a-kind revenue review gets a custom agent (build), and contract redlines stay with counsel (forego).
Learn more
Guide · DecideHow to choose an AI model by cost per taskMeasure cost per task, not price per token, and find where a cheaper model does the same job.Guide · DecideWhen to use an AI agent: sort every step into four bucketsDelete, plain code, agent or human: a decision tree for every step, with real data and a worked example.Guide · DecideBuild vs. buy AI agents: when to build, buy or foregoBuild, buy or forego: the criteria, the full cost of each path, and a worked example.