Enterprise AI has entered a new phase. In 2026, the challenge is no longer simply proving that AI can work, but operationalizing it at scale in ways that are reliable, economically sustainable, and production-ready. While many organizations have made meaningful progress with pilots and prototypes, far fewer have successfully crossed the gap into full AI transformation. The result is a growing divide between experimentation and real-world AI operations.
To close this gap, organizations need infrastructure and tooling purpose-built for production AI workloads. That means more than raw compute. It requires visibility into token usage and cost drivers, support for governance and compliance, the ability to avoid model API lock-in, and the performance optimization needed to maintain quality under real-world demand. As inference becomes a business-critical service, organizations need platforms that help them manage model behavior, economics, and scale with greater precision.
In our latest brief, From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory, completed in partnership with Nebius, Futurum Research examines the operational barriers preventing enterprises from moving AI from pilot to production. The report outlines five common failure modes in production AI and explores how Nebius Token Factory is designed to help organizations address them through token-level observability, cost control, governance, and inference optimization.
In this brief, you will learn:
- Why so many organizations struggle to move from AI experimentation to production
- The five most common failure modes that disrupt production AI deployments
- How token-level visibility and inference optimization improve cost control and performance
- Why governance, compliance, and auditability are becoming essential in inference environments
- How Nebius Token Factory helps organizations build scalable, production-ready AI systems
If you are interested in learning more, be sure to download your copy of From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory today.
Author Information
Daniel is the CEO of The Futurum Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise.
From the leading edge of AI to global technology policy, Daniel makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology investments. Daniel is a top 5 globally ranked industry analyst and his ideas are regularly cited or shared in television appearances by CNBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other sites around the world.
A 7x Best-Selling Author including his most recent book “Human/Machine.” Daniel is also a Forbes and MarketWatch (Dow Jones) contributor.
An MBA and Former Graduate Adjunct Faculty, Daniel is an Austin Texas transplant after 40 years in Chicago. His speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.
Brendan is Research Director, Semiconductors, Supply Chain, and Emerging Tech. He advises clients on strategic initiatives and leads the Futurum Semiconductors Practice. He is an experienced tech industry analyst who has guided tech leaders in identifying market opportunities spanning edge processors, generative AI applications, and hyperscale data centers.
Before joining Futurum, Brendan consulted with global AI leaders and served as a Senior Analyst in Emerging Technology Research at PitchBook. At PitchBook, he developed market intelligence tools for AI, highlighted by one of the industry’s most comprehensive AI semiconductor market landscapes encompassing both public and private companies. He has advised Fortune 100 tech giants, growth-stage innovators, global investors, and leading market research firms. Before PitchBook, he led research teams in tech investment banking and market research.
Brendan is based in Seattle, Washington. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Amherst College.
