Questions to Ask an AI Development Company

The right questions separate an AI company that ships production from one that demos well and delivers little. Here is the checklist to bring to every conversation.

Production track record

• "Show me a system you shipped to production and still support."
• "What broke, and how did you handle it?"
• "Can I speak to a reference client?"

This is the single most revealing area—see how to choose an AI development company.

Security and compliance

• "How do you handle data access, residency, and secrets?"
• "What is your experience with my industry's compliance?"
• "How do you audit and log activity?"

See data security in offshore AI.

Process and communication

• "How do you scope and run a project?"
• "What time-zone overlap do you commit to?"
• "How often will I see working software?"

IP and knowledge transfer

• "Who owns the code and IP?"
• "What does handoff include, and when is it designed?"

Reading the answers

Good answer	Warning sign
Specific, referenced	Vague, buzzword-heavy
Discusses failures	Only talks capabilities
Names trade-offs	Promises everything

See the red flags when outsourcing AI.

Why FISTA

FISTA Solutions answers each of these with specifics—production references, security discipline, US-hours communication, IP assigned to clients, and knowledge transfer by default—backed by 150+ projects across 12+ countries.

Ready to start the conversation? Talk to FISTA.