# AI lab, consulting firm or software vendor: which should run an enterprise AI project?

> A software vendor sells a tool, a consulting firm sells a plan, and an AI lab like HomoDeus takes a hard problem and builds the agent that solves it on the company's own records.

Source: https://www.homodeus.co/answers/ai-lab-vs-consulting-firm-vs-software-vendor | Language: en | Updated: 2026-10-31

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A software vendor sells a tool, a consulting firm sells a plan, and an AI lab like HomoDeus takes a hard problem and builds the agent that solves it on the company's own records. The right choice depends on whether the problem is common or specific to the company.

## Why does the choice matter?

According to [RAND](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2680-1.html)'s 2024 report, by some estimates more than 80% of AI projects fail, twice the rate of IT projects without AI. A tool leaves the result with your team, and a plan leaves it with whoever executes it. A lab builds the agent on your records, so the test is whether it works there.

## Side by side

|  | Software vendor | Consulting firm | AI lab (HomoDeus) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What you get | A product your team adapts to | A diagnosis and a roadmap | An agent working on your records |
| Whose knowledge it runs on | The vendor's general model | What the team gathered in interviews | Your people's judgment, captured |
| Best fit | A common problem many companies share | A question of strategy or change | A hard problem specific to your operation |
| Who signs the outcome | Depends on the product | Your team, after the project | A person, on every risky outcome |

## Questions

### When is a software tool the better choice?

When the problem is common and a tool already fits how the team works. At the US brokerage behind Scribe the off-the-shelf tools could not do the work, so a team of agents was built for it.

### What does an AI lab need from the company?

Access to the records and time with the people who hold the judgment. Keystone was rebuilt alongside the desk it serves.

### Do the agents replace the team?

No. In the HomoDeus cases the agent takes the reading and the routine, and a person signs where the risk sits: the partner, the manager, the compliance officer, the editor.

## Sources

- [RAND Corporation, RR-A2680-1 (2024), 65 interviews: by some estimates more than 80 percent of AI projects fail](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2680-1.html)

## Related

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- [How can a corporate legal team automate third-party due diligence?](https://www.homodeus.co/answers/ai-due-diligence-for-corporate-legal.md)
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