If the input contains confidential customer, contract, employee, pricing, or regulated records
Keep retrieval and model routing inside private cloud or on-premise boundaries.
// AI_DECISION_INDEX
The enterprise AI decision index.
Business leaders do not need another model leaderboard. They need a decision framework for AI strategy, enterprise architecture, AI adoption risk, compute economics, and data sovereignty.
Choose Architecture First.
The wrong first architecture can lock a company into avoidable API cost, weak governance, and avoidable security review. Cocoshede starts with deployment fit before implementation.
// DEPLOYMENT_TRADEOFFS
Compare deployment paths.
| Architecture path | Best fit | Sovereignty | Cost profile | Executive confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public frontier API | External content, low-sensitivity copilots, rapid prototypes | Low | Variable OPEX | Low-medium |
| Private cloud model endpoint | Regulated internal workflows and controlled knowledge access | High | Medium OPEX | High |
| Self-hosted open model | Repeatable proprietary classification, extraction, and private document handling | Maximum | Higher CAPEX, predictable OPEX | High |
| Private RAG layer | Internal knowledge, policy search, customer history summaries, analyst assist | High | Medium | High if retrieval is governed |
| Agentic workflow network | Multi-step operations with approvals, logs, and handoffs | Depends on controls | Medium-high | Medium until audited |
// DECISION_RULES
Rules before approval.
The index is deliberately conservative. It treats model capability as only one variable in a larger architecture decision involving risk, process ownership, cost drift, and auditability.
If the workflow changes money, legal rights, eligibility, safety, or customer commitments
Use human approval, audit logs, and rollback paths before automation.
If the task is repetitive and narrow
Evaluate smaller private models before paying frontier API rates for every step.
If leadership needs budget approval
Model workflow-level labor friction, AI operating cost, implementation effort, and payback in the same artifact.
// RISK_MATRIX
Risk is a portfolio choice.
Cocoshede scores deployment approaches against the questions that usually decide executive approval: leakage risk, regulatory posture, capital intensity, and operational fit.
Public SaaS APIs
Leakage riskMedium
Compliance fitMedium
Capital intensityLow
Fast experiments, higher scrutiny for sensitive records
Private cloud instances
Leakage riskLow
Compliance fitHigh
Capital intensityMedium
Best default for serious internal enterprise AI adoption
Fine-tuned local models
Leakage riskLow
Compliance fitHigh
Capital intensityHigh
Useful when data sensitivity and volume justify the infrastructure
Autonomous agents
Leakage riskHigh
Compliance fitMedium
Capital intensityMedium-high
Powerful only when bounded by approval gates and observability
// APPLY_THE_INDEX
Apply it to your company.
Cocoshede applies these tradeoffs to your sector, scale, workflows, systems, security posture, and budget case without requiring private documents or database access.