Compare

Three Ways to Buy AI for Real Work. One Answers for the Result.

Most of what you are shown fits one of three stories. Two of them cannot answer the question your CFO is asking: what did it move, and can we prove it?

Three stories · five tests · one answers for the result
THREE WAYS TO BUY AI FOR REAL WORKTHE FIVE TESTS A CFO AND AN AUDITOR WILL APPLYOwnsthe resultGovernedbefore it runsProof anauditor can readReaches systemswith no APIRuns itafter launchTHE ONLY ONE THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION: WHAT DID IT MOVE, AND CAN WE PROVE IT?The builderssell the factoryacceleration, and the risk that comes with itagentagentagentlaunch day · then it is yours0of 5tests metThe watcherssell controlvisibility, sold as control; they stand outside the worksees them · does not run them1of 5tests metThe outcomesell the resultaccountable for the result, and the pager is oursdone, signedrostercontractsgateruns through launch day, and after5of 5 tests metBuilders help you make agents. Watchers help you see them. Only the outcome story runs the work to a result you can prove, and keeps running it.
The three stories

The Builders. The Watchers. The Outcome.

Three ways to buy AI for real work, told across day one, month three and audit day.

DAY ONEMONTH THREEAUDIT DAYThe builderssell the factoryFast to start.Impossible to defend.agentagentagentagentagentagentagentagentagentagentagentagenteveryone builds their ownthe invoiceno owner, no rules, runaway cost?“The AI did it.”not a defensible positionnothing to hand the regulatorThe watcherssell controlSees the agents.Does not run it.agent-01 · inventoried · identity issuedagent-02 · inventoried · identity issuedagent-03 · inventoried · identity issuedagent-04 · inventoried · identity issuedagent-05 · inventoried · identity issuedan inventory and an identity eachpolicythe work runs past ita policy on paper; the work runs past itwhat ran: knownWhat did it move?Can we prove it?unansweredwhat ran: known. what it moved: not.The outcomesell the resultControl is whatlets you go fast.DEFINITION OF DONEsigned bythe businessdone, signed before anything runsagentagentpersonagentEACH UNDER A CONTRACTgateblocked · recordedcontracts checked, the wrong thing blockedEVIDENCE PACKthe auditorreads itan export, not an excavationTwo of them are good businesses. Only one is accountable for the result.
The comparison

Written at the Level of the Story.

Columns are the three stories. No cell is a claim about one named vendor's product.

BuildersAgentforce · Copilot Studio · Bedrock AgentCore · UnifyApps · PwC agent OS · QuantumBlack
WatchersAgent 365 and Entra Agent ID · ServiceNow AI Control Tower · Airia · Credo AI
AriadBSC Analytics · run it yourself, or under Ariad Complete
Part 1 of 3What you buy, and what you own
01What you buy
A platform to build and connect agents
Visibility, identity and policy over agents built elsewhere
✓A business outcome with a definition of done, run to signed evidence
02The unit of work
An agent, a flow, a task
A policy, an inventory entry
✓An outcome, with the agents and people it needs
03Who owns the result
You, from the day it launches
You; the watcher observes
✓Written down before anything runs, in a definition of done the business signed
Part 2 of 3How the work is governed
04Before the work runs
Whatever the builder configured
Policy checked at the gateway or after the fact
✓A contract per agent, enforced at runtime: sources, tools and data types, PII blocked
05Agent identity
Platform identity; often a shared service account
A registry and an identity for agents; enforcement varies
✓Each agent carries its own provisioned identity, scoped at creation, never a borrowed human login
06Human gates
Approval prompts in the tool
Alerts and reviews
✓Gates in the plan where the consequence is high, with the recommendation, evidence and trace
Part 3 of 3What you get, where it runs, who runs it
07What you get when it is done
Logs
Dashboards and reports
✓A signed evidence pack with lineage, built as the work happens, readable by your auditor
08Systems with no API
Connectors, and nothing past them
–Not in scope
✓Governed Workspaces for consoles with no API, such as mainframes
09Multi-week, multi-system work
Task and workflow based
–Not in scope
✓Native: programs with phases, gates and a forecast finish
10Where it runs
The vendor's cloud, tied to the vendor's suite
Mostly hosted
✓Inside your environment, private Kubernetes or your cloud; nothing runs on a BSC-hosted service
11Who runs it after launch
You, or a systems integrator
You
✓You, or Ariad Complete: our desks and the AI Ops Center, inside your walls, accountable for the result

Builders help you make agents. Watchers help you see them. Ariad runs the work to a result you can prove.

Why the third story holds up

In a Regulated Company.

Execution, not advice

BSC runs the work, with Ariad. The plan is not the deliverable; the proven result is.

Contract before execution

Every agent works inside a contract and its own identity. Reach is identity, grants and contract, enforced before the work runs.

Signed evidence, built as you go

Traces, approvals and artifacts with lineage, in one pack with a verification manifest.

Inside your walls. All of it.

Models, data, agents and evidence stay in your environment. No hosted service, no hybrid shortcut.

Ariad Complete

Launching AI is the easy part. Running it is the job.

Someone has to run what was launched. The builders and the watchers leave that with you. Under Ariad Complete, our desks run the outcome inside your environment. Accountability stays with your people; the machinery is ours.