Production Phase

The production phase is the deployment, operation, and continuous improvement of an AI system in live use, with the controls and monitoring required for the workflow's risk class.

What is Production Phase?

Production phase activities include canary deployment, observability wiring, drift monitoring, on-call rotation, incident process, retraining pipeline, change management, user feedback loop, and quarterly review. The first 90 days post-launch are the most critical: this is when most surprises surface. Production phase is ongoing, not a milestone that ends.

How does Production Phase apply to enterprise AI?

The production phase is where AI value is actually realised and where compliance evidence is generated. Enterprises should plan for 12 months of operating cost, not just build cost, in their AI budget.