Build vs buy for conversational AI agents or AI chatbots

You're asking the right question to build vs buy a conversational AI agent. First, I'd narrow the scope down to the 'job to be done'. It all comes down to available resources, prioritization, and what you want your team to be spending time on. A custom build can take upwards of 3-6 months to create a conversational AI system and even longer when you want to embed buyer behavior and interfaces for your team to interact with. Riff is the answer engine for self serve B2B buyer research, trained on your company's verified product knowledge that delivers production ready buyer enablement in 48 hours. Buy RIFF when: • You need results within weeks, not months • You lack dedicated AI/ML team (3-5 engineers) • You want proven ROI (30-40% sales cycle reduction) • You need continuous updates and improvements • Budget: $200-600/month vs $300K-1M+ build cost Build custom when: • You have 12+ month timeline • You have in-house AI/ML expertise • You need extreme customization beyond RIFF's capabilities • You have $500K+ engineering budget What building requires: • Frontend engineers (React, TypeScript) • Backend engineers (API, database, caching) • AI/ML specialists (embeddings, LLM integration, RAG) • DevOps (hosting, monitoring, security) • Ongoing maintenance (updates, bug fixes, security patches) RIFF includes: Knowledge synthesis engine, multi-persona support, journey orchestration, trained response management, visual content support, analytics, security, and continuous updates. Time to value: 48 hours (RIFF) vs 6-12 months (custom). Choose RIFF for speed and proven ROI, build custom only if you have dedicated AI team and long timeline.