It's not just VW that thinks it can better develop software itself - only to fail. I encounter it every day in presentations by Kaia's Team.
"We can only use AI if we have full control over it"
"We can't give our internal data to external tools"
"Connecting a chatbot via the Open AI API - we can do that ourselves"
The ‘Not Invented Here Syndrome’ ("NIH") exists wherever technology and innovation are involved. It's based on a mixture of 3 beliefs
Only in-house developed solutions meet the company's needs
External solutions are generally under-complex and therefore easy to copy.
If you work with external tools, you hand over expertise instead of bringing it in-house
These beliefs are not generally wrong. But in-house developments have a price:
They not only cost time & money - those who close themselves off to external competition create a silo mentality
They require skills that are often not available and must first be sought on the market
Extended time-to-markets weaken competitiveness. Topics may change faster than the company can react.
We respond to NIH syndrome with these three arguments
1️⃣ We bring innovations to your company ready to use
Try it out first. If the topic becomes a key factor for you, you can build up your skills in parallel and develop your own alternatives.
2️⃣ See us as a partner, not a competitor
From day 1 of the collaboration, we deliver a deep knowledge transfer. Use it to understand where the real hurdles in delivering lie.
3️⃣ Focus on your own USP
Is it really necessary to develop your own AI and LLM? Or is the value of the company not rather in the internal data and customer relationships? It probably makes sense to invest in more and better data first.
The good news is that not all companies suffer from NIH syndrome. In fact, many companies understand how important software collaborations are and are happy about the innovation boost they bring.
Who wants to have a finger in every pie?
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