A polished demo tells you what a platform does at its best. The questions below tell you what it will be like to live with - which is what actually matters. Take this list into every vendor conversation and watch how they respond; the hesitations are as informative as the answers.
On fit and integration
- Does it connect to the specific systems we use, and how much work is that?
- Can we test it on our own workflow before committing to a contract?
- What does setup realistically involve, and who does it?
On control and safety
- Can we set permissions, spend limits and approval gates ourselves?
- Is there a full audit trail of every action the agent takes?
- How do we stop the agent quickly if something goes wrong?
On data and compliance
- Where is our data processed and stored, and is it used to train your models?
- What happens to our data if we leave?
- Can you support the compliance obligations in our sector? (See agentic AI, compliance and regulation.)
On cost and commitment
- What is the total cost - licence, setup, integration and support?
- What does ongoing maintenance require from us?
- How long is the contract, and how do we exit?
On the vendor itself
- How long have you been doing this, and who else runs your agents in production?
- What is your support response like when an agent misbehaves at 4pm on a Friday?
The bottom line
The right vendor answers these plainly and lets you test before you commit; the wrong one deflects. Learning to run this kind of disciplined evaluation is part of the Strategic Application of AI in Business course at London School of Business UK. Enquire today.