The Embedding Scale: From Tool to Platform

Here’s the trap most vendors fall into: they get adopted by one department and think they’re safe. They’re not. They’re vulnerable.

The Math Is Simple

1 Department = Tool

You’re a line item in someone’s budget. When that champion leaves or priorities shift—you’re gone. Switching cost: days.

3 Departments = Infrastructure

You’re woven into organizational fabric. Ripping you out means coordinating teams that don’t coordinate well. Switching cost: months.

5 Departments = Platform

You’re how the organization operates. The meeting artifact, the shared language, the single source of truth. Switching cost: years.

Cross-departmental adoption creates exponential switching costs—not because you’ve locked anyone in, but because you’ve become the neutral ground where organizational coordination actually happens.

Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.