---
title: "Blog // Field Notes, Page 7 · FoundrySoft"
description: "Engineering notes from senior practitioners on generative AI, retrieval systems, and the real work of shipping LLM-powered software to production."
image: "https://foundrysoft.co/api/og?type=page&title=Engineering+intelligent+software&st=Production-grade+software+and+AI+systems+for+teams+who+need+more+than+another+demo."
url: "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/7"
---

Field Notes, 127 Articles

# Notes from the foundry

Engineering essays on generative AI, retrieval systems, and what it takes to ship intelligent software to production.

[121 Insights // Infrastructure Should We Self-Host an LLM? A Cost and Control Framework 2026-04-24 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/should-we-self-host-an-llm) [122 Insights // Architecture RAG vs Fine-Tuning vs Long Context: Which, and When 2026-04-17 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/rag-vs-fine-tuning-vs-long-context) [123 Insights // Strategy When AI Is the Wrong Tool (and Cheaper Options Win) 2026-04-10 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/when-ai-is-the-wrong-tool) [124 Insights // Production The AI Readiness Checklist Before You Ship to Customers 2026-04-03 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/ai-readiness-checklist-before-shipping) [125 Insights // Product How to Scope an AI MVP That Won't Get Thrown Away 2026-03-27 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/scope-an-ai-mvp-that-wont-be-thrown-away) [126 Insights // Planning Estimating Timeline and Budget for an AI Build 2026-03-20 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/estimating-timeline-and-budget-for-ai-build) [127 Insights // Evals Measuring AI Quality: Evals Your Board Will Trust 2026-03-13 →](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/measuring-ai-quality-evals-your-board-trusts)

[‹ Prev](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/6) [1](https://foundrysoft.co/blog) [2](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/2) [3](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/3) [4](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/4) [5](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/5) [6](https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/6) 7 Next ›

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "FoundrySoft",
  "url": "https://foundrysoft.co",
  "logo": "https://foundrysoft.co/logo.svg",
  "description": "FoundrySoft builds production-grade software and AI systems for US companies, from an India-based team of senior engineers.",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://github.com/foundrysofthq",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundrysoft",
    "https://www.instagram.com/foundrysoft/"
  ]
}
```

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "name": "FoundrySoft",
  "url": "https://foundrysoft.co"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Blog",
  "name": "FoundrySoft Blog",
  "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/page/7",
  "blogPost": [
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "Should We Self-Host an LLM? A Cost and Control Framework",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/should-we-self-host-an-llm",
      "datePublished": "2026-04-24"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "RAG vs Fine-Tuning vs Long Context: Which, and When",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/rag-vs-fine-tuning-vs-long-context",
      "datePublished": "2026-04-17"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "When AI Is the Wrong Tool (and Cheaper Options Win)",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/when-ai-is-the-wrong-tool",
      "datePublished": "2026-04-10"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "The AI Readiness Checklist Before You Ship to Customers",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/ai-readiness-checklist-before-shipping",
      "datePublished": "2026-04-03"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "How to Scope an AI MVP That Won't Get Thrown Away",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/scope-an-ai-mvp-that-wont-be-thrown-away",
      "datePublished": "2026-03-27"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "Estimating Timeline and Budget for an AI Build",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/estimating-timeline-and-budget-for-ai-build",
      "datePublished": "2026-03-20"
    },
    {
      "@type": "BlogPosting",
      "headline": "Measuring AI Quality: Evals Your Board Will Trust",
      "url": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog/measuring-ai-quality-evals-your-board-trusts",
      "datePublished": "2026-03-13"
    }
  ]
}
```

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://foundrysoft.co/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Blog",
      "item": "https://foundrysoft.co/blog"
    }
  ]
}
```