Cloud vs On-Prem Is the Wrong Question for AI Agents: Split Workloads by Component
DavidLinthicum · x · 2026-10-13
David Linthicum argues that "should our AI agents run in the cloud or our own data center?" is the wrong either/or question — and getting it wrong gets expensive fast.
Key points:
- Agents aren't one workload but an orchestrated bundle of model inference, tool calls, memory state, and integration logic; different pieces belong in different places
- Cloud is right for bursty, variable demand, customer-facing agents, and anything needing frontier models day one: pay as you go, iterate daily, deploy globally
- Own hardware is right for fleets running hot around the clock, sensitive or regulated data, and latency-critical cases like factory floors or trading desks
- Pretending agents are a single workload is how enterprises blow real money
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