From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory
In our latest report, From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory, completed in partnership with Nebius, Futurum Research examines the operational barriers that prevent organizations from scaling AI successfully.
Futurum's Daniel Newman and Brendan Burke,
Cite this
Daniel Newman and Brendan Burke, The Futurum Group, "From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory," March 24, 2026. https://preview.erikbethke.com/research-reports/from-proof-of-concept-to-inference-roi-overcoming-the-five-failure-modes-of-production-ai/
Enterprise AI has entered a new phase. In 2026, the challenge is no longer simply proving that AI can work, but operationalizing it at scale in ways that are reliable, economically sustainable, and production-ready. While many organizations have made meaningful progress with pilots and prototypes, far fewer have successfully crossed the gap into full AI transformation. The result is a growing divide between experimentation and real-world AI operations.
To close this gap, organizations need infrastructure and tooling purpose-built for production AI workloads. That means more than raw compute. It requires visibility into token usage and cost drivers, support for governance and compliance, the ability to avoid model API lock-in, and the performance optimization needed to maintain quality under real-world demand. As inference becomes a business-critical service, organizations need platforms that help them manage model behavior, economics, and scale with greater precision.
In our latest brief, From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory, completed in partnership with Nebius, Futurum Research examines the operational barriers preventing enterprises from moving AI from pilot to production. The report outlines five common failure modes in production AI and explores how Nebius Token Factory is designed to help organizations address them through token-level observability, cost control, governance, and inference optimization.
In this brief, you will learn:
- Why so many organizations struggle to move from AI experimentation to production
- The five most common failure modes that disrupt production AI deployments
- How token-level visibility and inference optimization improve cost control and performance
- Why governance, compliance, and auditability are becoming essential in inference environments
- How Nebius Token Factory helps organizations build scalable, production-ready AI systems
If you are interested in learning more, be sure to download your copy of From Proof of Concept to Inference ROI: Overcoming the Five Failure Modes of Production AI with Nebius Token Factory today.
Published by Futurum.
More from Daniel Newman
Rapidus’ IIM-1 Fab Construction is Completed. Will Cadence Make It the First Agentic Foundry?
Rapidus’ IIM-1 fab completes construction in Chitose, leveraging Cadence Innostack AI Super Agent for its Raads platform and IBM 2nm transistor IP to compete with TSMC, Intel, and Samsung in inference accelerator production.
SiFive BigSky Ships the First RISC-V Server. Is the GPU Head Node the Prize?
Brendan Burke, Research Director at Futurum, shares his insights on SiFive’s BigSky, the first enterprise-grade RISC-V server, and why CUDA head node duty for NVIDIA GPUs is the socket that matters.
QumulusAI Q2 FY 2026: 118% Revenue Growth for Hyperspeed AI Compute Deployment
Brendan Burke, Research Director at Futurum, analyzes QumulusAI’s Q2 FY 2026 earnings, focusing on direct AI compute demand, GPU fleet expansion, and capacity execution.