Should I build my own AI tools or buy SaaS?

I lean toward building, and I'll still give you the honest version. Buy when the problem is common and a cheap off-the-shelf tool already solves it well. Don't pay anyone to rebuild a calendar. Build when the thing is specific to how your business actually works, or when owning it is the whole point.

I've fought against renting software my entire career when I could see a way to build something better and own it, and AI has tilted that math hard toward building. The cost of a custom, owned tool has dropped through the floor. What most people get wrong is renting ten overlapping SaaS tools that each hold a slice of their data and their workflow hostage. If a build lets you own the workflow and the data, that's usually the move. Want a straight build-or-buy read on your situation? Let's talk about yours.