__ Basware __CEO Jason Kurtz points to an automotive manufacturer that spent 18 months building a custom AI system for expense reporting. He estimates a specialist product could have solved the same problem in about 12 weeks, at one-tenth the cost.

Companies should be getting less patient with projects like that one. Capable models are now widely available, so “we built it ourselves” only holds up when owning the technology gives the business an advantage.

Adoption has moved faster than that discipline. __ McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey __found that 88% of respondents said their organizations regularly use AI in at least one business function.…