High-volume localization at scale

Context

A media company localizes and dubs a growing catalog at tens of millions of inferences a month. The reflex at this scale is to self-host a fine-tuned model — but localization is largely a commodity capability.

The decision

At commodity volume with low differentiation, the flat COTS license actually wins — cheaper than usage-based API and than the self-host most teams assume. Self-host is only the flip once quality becomes a differentiator.

What most miss

The reflex at scale is 'build.' For a commodity capability a fixed-price license often beats it; self-host wins only once control or quality becomes your edge.

Stakes

Building what you could license burns a team and a year on undifferentiated plumbing.