Local AI or cloud: where should your company's data live?
A server on your premises, a European host or a non-European cloud: the three ways to run AI on your data, and what each one involves.
The first question to ask
When an AI answers from your documents, emails or calls, that data is sent somewhere to be processed. Before choosing a tool, you need to know where, and who can access it.
There are three main options. None is good or bad in itself: they do not suit the same data.
On site: a server on your premises
The server sits in your company and belongs to you. The AI models run on it, and your data never leaves the building. Only you have access.
This is the best fit for sensitive data: a law firm's client files, health data, a manufacturer's technical documents. In return you need hardware on site, someone to install and maintain it, and backups.
In Europe: a Swiss or EU host
Your data sits with a host under European law. You and the host have access. You have no hardware to manage.
It is a good balance between cost, reliability and control for a company that does not want a server on site.
Non-European cloud: the large providers
This is often the easiest to get going, especially if you already use consumer tools. But these providers are also subject to the laws of their own country, and you have less control over where data goes.
For public or low-sensitivity content this can be enough. For confidential data, look at the other two options.
How to choose
Start from your data, not from the tool. List what the AI will have to read, then ask what would happen if that information left the company. Check your obligations too: professional secrecy, GDPR, commitments made to your customers.
At Denvori, hosting on the customer's premises is the starting choice, and the other two options are presented with their trade-offs. The customer decides.
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