How to Choose an AI Tool: A 7-Step Procurement Matrix

The 7-Step AI Selection Protocol

1. Define the Specific Workflow Bottleneck: Do not buy an “AI tool for marketing.” Identify the precise bottleneck: generating first-pass technical changelogs, formatting JSON schemas, or synthesizing customer transcripts.
2. Test with Production Distractors: Run the software against complex edge cases with contradictory instructions and noise. Does the model hallucinate or accurately flag missing information?
3. Audit the Vendor Data Policy: Ensure commercial contracts explicitly stipulate that customer data is never retained, logged, or used to fine-tune foundation models.
4. Evaluate Ergonomics & Latency: Measure the friction required to trigger the AI: does it live in the developer's IDE or require switching browser windows?
5. Analyze True Unit Economics: Differentiate flat-rate user seat licenses from unpredictable token consumption meters that spike during heavy usage.
6. Confirm Enterprise SSO & SCIM: Ensure security teams can instantly revoke compromised account tokens across enterprise identity providers.
7. Audit Vendor Lock-In: Does the platform allow exporting your prompts, embeddings, and chat histories, or are you trapped in a proprietary walled garden?