The Deployment Memo

Memo Archive

Every issue of The Deployment Memo. One real enterprise AI deployment, dissected in full, every Tuesday at 7 AM CT.

May 25, 2026Enterprise AI / Professional ServicesLatestVendor StrategyConsulting RiskVendor Lock-InOpenAI

The OpenAI Deployment Company: What Your Consulting Firm Didn't Disclose

OpenAI launched a $14B deployment company with Bain & Company, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs as founding partners. The same firms your enterprise pays for independent AI strategy advice are now financial partners in the vehicle that profits from OpenAI deployments. This memo dissects the conflict of interest and what your team must ask.

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May 24, 2026Enterprise AI / InfrastructureOpen SourceSovereign AIInfrastructureModel Selection

The Open-Source Sovereign AI Decision

Cohere released a 218B Apache 2.0 model that runs on two H100s. Your enterprise is paying for managed inference. This memo dissects whether you should self-host it — and what needs to be true for that to be the right answer.

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May 2026Enterprise / Mid-MarketSampleData StrategyAI AdoptionTooling

The Single Source of Truth Trap

A 130-person company is building a data warehouse while AI tools accumulate informally — some Claude, mostly Copilot, no policy, no owner, no connection to the data being built. This memo dissects the deployment decision they have not made yet, and what happens if they wait until after go-live.

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May 27, 2025FintechSampleCustomer ServicePost-mortemNPS Risk

Klarna's AI Customer Service Reversal

In March 2024, Klarna announced its AI assistant was handling two-thirds of customer service conversations. By late 2024, it was quietly re-hiring humans. This memo dissects what went wrong and what decision every enterprise with a service automation initiative must now make.

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