Should we buy an AI tool or build our own?
Answer
Buy, in the vast majority of cases. An SME does not need to develop its own AI model: an off-the-shelf assistant covers most uses, and a tailored connection to your software covers the rest. You only build what you cannot find elsewhere, and that is rare.
The exception exists if your value lies in a proprietary algorithm (business forecasting, specific data analysis) or in a product you sell. For everyday use (drafting, summarising, sorting, data entry), the budget goes into scoping, integration and training, not into developing a model. “Building” then means connecting an existing tool to your software, which is what AI Engineering does.