Nine questions to ask an AI developer in Australia (from one)

There are a lot of people selling AI development right now, and the pitches sound alike. These are the questions we'd ask if we were hiring, and the answers we'd want to hear. They work on us as well as anyone, which is the point.

The questions

1. 01Who owns the code and the accounts? The answer should be "you", from the first paid stage, in writing.
2. 02Who is actually in the repository? If the person pitching isn't the person building, ask to meet the person building.
3. 03How do you measure whether it's right? You want to hear "a test set of your real examples" and a number, not "we'll tune it".
4. 04What does it cost to run each month, and what caps it? If they can't estimate the model and hosting bill at your volume, they haven't built one at your volume.
5. 05What happens when the model is wrong? Listen for "it flags it for a person" and "every action is logged", not "it's very accurate".
6. 06Can I stop after the first stage and keep what I've paid for? Any answer other than yes is a retainer in disguise.
7. 07Show me something you built that's still running. Not a demo. Something a business uses on a Tuesday.
8. 08What would you tell me not to build? A developer with no answer has never said no to a sale.
9. 09What do you need from me, and when? A good engagement has a plan for your time as well as theirs.

Our answers, for the record

You own everything from the first paid stage. The people on the audit call are the people in the code. We test on your real examples and write the number down. Running cost is estimated in the scope and capped in the build. Anything uncertain goes to a person, logged. You can stop at any boundary and keep what you've paid for. Our work page shows systems in use. We say no to roughly as many jobs as we take. And we'll tell you on the call what we'll need from you, which is usually less than you'd think.