Six of eight AI projects should have been a Python script

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200

Startup pitch: “We use AI to automate X.” Investors: “Wonderful. Here is €2M.”

Six months later: an AI budget of €120,000 — data scientists plus compute — and a model at 78% accuracy. Benchmark of a 200-line Python script: 74%.

Difference: four points. Cost: €120,000.

(If you think your AI project is different — it might be. The odds are against you.)

What eight audits showed

Project one, support ticket classification. Solution sold: fine-tuned LLM. Solution that works: regex plus ten if/else rules. Saved: €60,000.