Use case and model selection
Not every scenario needs the largest model. For summarization, classification and drafting, smaller models are often sufficient and cut cost several times over. Selection happens between measured quality and unit cost.
- Candidate models are compared on the same test set
- Latency and cost are criteria alongside quality
- Data location requirements constrain the choice
- Model swapping is abstracted so architecture survives it
Guardrails and boundaries
What the model will not do is defined as precisely as what it will. Input and output checks, an allowed topic boundary and a personal data filter are embedded; a request outside the boundary is refused rather than guessed at.
- The topic boundary is written and testable
- Personal data is filtered on the input side too
- Model output never flows straight into a transaction
- Refusal behavior is tested as well
Evaluation and version management
Whether a prompt change improved or degraded things is knowable only against a fixed evaluation set. Sets are built per use case, and every version is measured on the same one.
- Evaluation sets are built from your own examples
- Prompt and model versions are recorded together
- A regression test runs on every change
- Human evaluation continues on a sample
Cost and adoption
Cost rises linearly with usage, so caching, prompt length and model tier are managed together. Adoption, meanwhile, depends on users trusting the output rather than on interface polish.
- Repeated requests are served from cache
- Simple tasks are routed to a smaller model
- Spend is tracked per use case
- User feedback feeds back into the evaluation set