Build vs. Buy
The decision between building a custom AI solution from scratch versus using an existing product. In practice it's rarely this binary — most real decisions are about how much to customize on top of an existing foundation model. Build gives you more control and differentiation; buy gets you there faster. The right answer depends on how central AI is to your competitive advantage, your engineering resources, and how specific your requirements are. Most companies should start with buy and build only where they genuinely need differentiation.
In practice
You need AI-powered meeting summaries. You could integrate Claude's API and build a custom solution (build), or buy an existing tool like Otter.ai or Fireflies (buy). Build gives you control and customization. Buy gets you there faster with less engineering. The right answer depends on how differentiated this feature needs to be.
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