The AI vendor market is flooded. Most of them will fail. A short set of questions filters out 90% of the bad ones in a single call.
We've watched clients sit through enough AI vendor pitches to notice a pattern. The presentations all look the same. The slides are all stunning. And most of the demos — including some from well-funded companies — don't survive contact with a serious buyer who knows what to ask.
Here are the four questions we coach buyers to lead with:
The four questions
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01
Show me three production clients, by name and industry.
Not logos on a website — actual references you can call. Vendors without named references are usually not in production anywhere, which is a very different product than one that is.
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02
What happens when the agent is wrong?
Every agent is wrong sometimes. Good vendors have a confident answer about detection, escalation, and recovery. Bad vendors get vague.
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03
Walk me through the audit trail for a single decision.
If the answer is "we log everything in a proprietary dashboard" instead of showing you a real audit record for a real decision, the product isn't ready for regulated work.
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04
What's your exit strategy — for both of us?
If we leave in 18 months, do we walk away with our data, our prompt logic, and the ability to keep running? If the answer is no, you're not buying software; you're renting hostage.
The answers to these four questions tell you whether you're buying a tool or buying a story. Most vendors are selling stories.
What this looks like in practice
A good vendor will answer these questions in 20 minutes with concrete specifics. A bad vendor will spend 45 minutes redirecting to "what we're most excited about in our roadmap." That's the signal.
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We'll go through your shortlist and tell you which ones would survive a real buy.
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