AI28 January 2026 · 6 min
The €50,000 AI project that ChatGPT might replace
Ask what the off-the-shelf tool already does before you build.
A custom build is sometimes right. It is right when the workflow is genuinely yours, when integration is the value, or when the data cannot leave your environment.
It is wrong far more often than vendors will tell you.
The two-week test
Before approving a build, run the process manually with an existing tool for two weeks. If a competent employee with a subscription gets eighty percent of the outcome, you have just learned what you are actually paying the €50,000 for — and whether it is worth it.
Build vs buy, honestly
Buy the capability. Build the integration. Never build what will be a commodity feature in nine months.