Every leadership team is asking the same question about AI: should we build it, buy it or partner? The honest answer is that it depends, and that the decision should be made use case by use case.

Five tests

We ask whether the capability is a source of advantage, whether proprietary data makes it better, whether talent is available, how fast the market is moving, and what failure would cost. Two or more yeses on the first three usually point to building.

Start smaller than you think

Even when the answer is to build, begin with a single high-value workflow. Learning from a narrow deployment is cheaper than correcting a broad one.