Free guide
AI agents and
custom software.
A practical guide for business leaders on where AI agents work, where they fail, and when custom software is the better path.
What’s inside
The guide covers AI agents first, then custom software.
A framework for when to use AI agents, when to invest in custom software, and the questions to ask before you pay for either.
Part one
AI Agents
- Start from the sentence you have already said. Seven situations a local business turns up with — each one routed to the pages that answer it, so you never have to read it front to back
- What the research actually says. A support study showing a gain and a developer study showing a loss, with the citations and the reason they disagree
- The three things people call an agent. Assistant, fixed workflow, actual agent — sorted by who picks the next step
- Five jobs they do well, five ways it backfires. Where the technology earns its keep, and where people spend real money and regret it
- What an agent costs to run. The four costs, only one of which ever gets quoted — with per-run figures and the reason the bill scales with steps
Part two
Custom Software
- Buy, configure, connect, or build. The honest hierarchy, cheapest first — most people are told to start at the bottom
- The four shapes custom software takes. System of record, bridge, front door, window — and how to tell which one you need
- What it costs, and who owns it. Hosting and maintenance ranges, the bill of materials to ask for, and the ownership terms to settle before you sign
- Twelve questions to ask a vendor. Six for either half, including the two that tell you the most: where should we not use this, and what would you leave out?
- A calculator, a worksheet, and what none of it fixes. Run your own numbers, write up one workflow to take into the conversation, and — true of both halves — the problems no software solves
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A guide for deciding what to build, buy, or skip.
Experience-based guidance from the Vail Valley AI engineering team.
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