Vendor Independence
How to stay independent while going AI-native: architecting so no single provider can trap you, at the model layer rather than the datacentre layer. Open weights as exit insurance, portable prompt and tool-calling design, fine-tune portability, model-deprecation continuity, multi-provider failover, procurement and exit terms, and the difference between EU hosting and genuine sovereignty. Prevention, not migration.
8 articles
Articles
26 August 2026
AI Vendor Risk Assessment: A Procurement Checklist
Standard third-party risk questionnaires miss AI-specific vulnerabilities like model data retention and training rights. Here is the exact checklist procurement teams need to vet AI infrastructure vendors, complete with our own honest answers.
21 August 2026
OpenAI Compatible APIs: What Breaks When Switching Models
Switching inference endpoints is a one-line code change, but prompt behavior rarely transfers perfectly
22 September 2026
Multi-Provider Inference Failover: Two Endpoints, One Codebase
If your product stops when one inference provider does, this guide puts a second endpoint behind the same code path. Learn how to configure multi-provider fallback, handle rate limits versus timeouts, and avoid breaking EU data residency during failover.
15 September 2026
Self-Hosting vs Managed EU Inference: The Independence Trade-Off
Compare processing location, provider access, portability and operational control before choosing managed inference or self-hosting. Match the deployment and contract to your actual requirements.
20 August 2026
Model Deprecation Risk: Version Pinning & Notice Periods
When an API provider retires or silently updates a model, the resulting breaking changes force a rapid, unplanned migration. Discover how version pinning, rigorous regression testing, and transparent Service Level Agreements protect your infrastructure from deprecation risk.
1 September 2026
AI Pilot Exit Criteria: Making Reversibility a Requirement
A staggering of enterprise generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business impact. Defining explicit exit criteria and choosing a reversible infrastructure stack ensures you can stop a proof of concept cleanly without stranded costs or vendor lock-in
8 September 2026
Sovereignty Beyond Hosting: Why an EU Region Isn't Enough
AI sovereignty requires more than selecting an EU server location in a hyperscaler console. True independence means controlling your processing location, model weights, commercial terms, and technical stack to ensure complete autonomy over your infrastructure.
25 August 2026
Porting Fine-Tunes and LoRA Adapters Between Providers
The true value of your fine-tune is the knowledge embedded in its weights. By extracting your LoRA adapters as portable artefacts and avoiding proprietary serving layers, you can freely migrate your custom models across any infrastructure without vendor lock-in.