Bringing a validated AI PoC to real production can be done in 90 days with a clear roadmap: month 1 harden (real data, real integration,
observability), month 2 stabilize (evals, guardrails, load, cost), month 3 deploy (canary, monitoring, training, support). Each month has
Signable deliverables and measurable metrics. Skipping phases due to commercial pressure is the most common cause of projects reverting to the initial stage.
previous after six months.
There's an understandable business instinct: if the Proof of Concept (PoC) worked, can't we launch it in production in three weeks? The short answer is no, unless the PoC was built with production discipline from day one (rare). Skipping phases is what leads to projects that end up back in the drawer four months after launch, once the first serious failure occurs.
in production breaks internal trust.
90 days is a reasonable timeframe to bring a validated Proof of Concept (PoC) into actual production. Any faster is heroic. Any slower is inefficient.
Week 1 · Real data. Replace mock data with real customer data, anonymized or not as appropriate. Document differences between
original dataset and production.
Week 2 · Real integration. Connect to CRM, ERP, or real internal systems (at least one endpoint). Implement authentication and
traceability by user.
Week 3 · Observability. Structured logs, basic metrics, first dashboard. Without this, you can't go any further.
Week 4 · First review. Demo to real users (small group), feedback, go/no-go decision for month 2.
Week 5 · Automatic evaluations. A set of test prompts is executed every night. Alerts are triggered if quality drops.
Week 6 · Guardrails. Hallucination detection, prompt injection, inappropriate content. Fallback plan defined.
Week 7 · Load testing. Behavior under real concurrency. Measured latency, measured cost, documented scaling plan.
Week 8 · Cost optimization. Caching, smaller models where possible, batching. Typical cost reduction of the 30-60% vs. PoC.
Week 9 · Canary deployment. Production for 5-10% users,
intensive monitoring, clear rollback criteria.
Week 10 · Progressive deployment. 25%, 50%, 100% according to metrics
signed. Each step requires explicit approval.
Week 11 · Training. User documentation, end-user training, troubleshooting guide for internal team.
Week 12 · Transfer and closure. Handover to the operations team
From the client. Maintenance plan for the next six months. Signed success metrics.
Before month 1 begins, the project's success metrics must be signed off. Without this, there's no objective way to say "it's finished.".
Typical metrics:
Only if the Proof of Concept (PoC) already met production standards at the end of the PoC, which is rare.
So it's a rescue operation, not a roadmap to production. Add 30-60 extra days.
This applies to most: RAG, agents, NLP, computer vision. The duration changes little; the milestones are the same.
TCG can operate the system during a transition period and train the internal team or a client partner.
Yes, the Storm and Hurricane guarantees apply: if we deliver late or the signed metrics are not met, there is a refund.
A well-managed 90 days takes a validated Proof of Concept to real-world production with success rates exceeding 90% when phases are followed. Skip
Phases due to commercial pressure are the most common reason why projects end up back on the shelf. If you have a validated Proof of Concept and need a plan...
production, this roadmap works.
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