Eight reasons to choose partnership over building or buying AI

As a relatively nascent technology, many business leaders struggle with how to get started with artificial intelligence (AI). So, they tend to stay within the boundaries of the “build vs buy” dilemma.

We surveyed over 200 C-suite leaders and “build” is by far the more popular option, with over 70% relying on their own data science teams. But the vast majority, 63%, said they thought “partnership” with an external provider was the best solution.

“Partnership”, or AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), bridges “building” in-house or “buying” off-the shelf point-solutions. It’s the best of both worlds.

Here are some of the key benefits:

1.Get value from day one

According to Gartner, organisations take close to nine months to move AI-based system prototypes into production. And that’s only for the half of them that cross that chasm. Good AIaaS will be customised, but act like it is out of the box. That’s because you are buying products and expertise that have solved problems for hundreds of other customers just like you. No need to reinvent the wheel.

2. Get fully flexible AI, from set-up to scale-up

So if an in-house build generally takes time, and an off-the-shelf product might only be sufficient for the current problem, what about when you need to go fast, change scope, or scale across your organisation? When you adopt AIaaS, you get the flexibility and agility to suit your needs.

3. Flexible payment options

Whatever your payment preference, whether a one-off capital investment or ongoing monthly or annual payments, your AI partner can provide you with a flexible contract that suits you. The flexibility means you switch it up when it no longer services your needs. It also means you pay for what you use. With the additional transparency, you can always ensure you are getting value for your money.

4. Focus on your competitive advantage

Even if you have an excellent team, their data science expertise and resources are likely stretched across different priorities. With an AI partner, you can use their AIaaS to improve routine processes, freeing up your internal team to do the big stuff. Or vice versa; let a really accomplished AIaaS provider solve your biggest challenges, while your team runs your day-to-day operations. The choice is yours.

5. Access an unlimited pool of AI and data science experts

The perfect blend of advanced data scientists, machine learning engineers, product designers and software developers can allow you to adopt AI that meets your exact need. Few companies can afford a team of the size that allows them to hand-pick the best talent for every project. When you work with an AI partner, you have access to a team of experts selected specifically for your business.

6. Adopt AI low-risk with a team of AI safety experts

If you don’t have any AI safety experts on your in-house team, you could be building biased, unethical AI. And off-the-shelf solutions are no better; these ‘black boxes’ leave you with no way of knowing if your AI is producing fair results. But with the right AIaaS provider, you can open the backend of the technology and see why it’s generating certain results.

7. Receive instant, custom support from your AI partner whenever you need it

Implementing an effective solution that can tackle a problem quickly is a serious feat, especially if you don’t have a strong data science team. And off-the shelf will only solve the problem you intended it for, maybe with a helpdesk for troubleshooting, if you are lucky. But a fully maintained AI service is highly responsive and flexible.

8. Be sure your AlaaS solution will generate sufficient ROI

The number of AI projects that fail is astonishing. Over half of projects fail to get out of prototype stage, and an incredible 85% fail to deliver. With an AI partner, you can be confident your solution will generate the ROI other customers have benefitted from. You can see your expected ROI in the discovery phase, and then hold your AIaaS provider accountable as you go.

So if like two-thirds of business leaders, you are thinking that partnership might be the best way to integrate or upgrade AI in your business talk to us.