The 5 Questions to Ask Before Any AI Vendor Pitch

Every AI vendor demo looks impressive. The model answers questions, drafts emails, and summarizes documents in seconds. The gap between demo and production is almost always integration debt — and most buyers don't ask the questions that expose it.

Start with stack compatibility: which systems does this connect to out of the box, and what does custom integration cost? Then ask about data residency and audit trails — not as checkbox compliance items, but as architectural decisions that affect every workflow you automate.

Finally, demand a rollback plan. If the system needs to be reverted in minutes on a Friday afternoon, can it be? Vendors who hesitate on that question are telling you something important about how their product was built.