--- title: Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you... description: A Stacklok survey of 520 technical leaders finds enterprises are already swapping AI models in and out, but the integration layer built on top is what's hard... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you build around it is staying put | daily.dev og:description: A Stacklok survey of 520 technical leaders finds enterprises are already swapping AI models in and out, but the integration layer built on top is what's hard... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/jTwQimuNj.png og:image:alt: Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you build around it is staying put og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you build around it is staying put **[Stack Overflow Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/stackov)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A Stacklok survey of 520 technical leaders finds enterprises are already swapping AI models in and out, but the integration layer built on top is what's hard to move. Only 8% use a single model provider while 25% use five or more. Fifty-three percent cite integrations to internal systems or MCP servers as among the hardest things to migrate, with multi-step agent workflows close behind at 52%. Despite 84% saying avoiding lock-in matters to their AI strategy, 'ability to switch model providers' ranked sixth of eight buying criteria and 'avoiding vendor dependence' ranked last. Organizations running five or more providers are far more likely to have built internal integrations, use open source agent frameworks, and consider open alternatives. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### what percentage of companies use more than one AI model provider Only 8% of surveyed organizations use a single model provider, while 25% use five or more providers. This comes from a survey of 520 technical leaders at North American companies with over 500 employees, all running LLMs or agents in pilot or production, suggesting a multi-model approach is now the norm rather than the exception in enterprise AI. _daily.dev helps teams tracking multi-provider AI strategy keep up with how peers structure their stacks._ ### what is the hardest part of switching AI model providers for an enterprise Integrations to internal systems or MCP servers are the hardest element to migrate, cited by 53% of surveyed technical leaders, followed closely by multi-step agent workflows at 52% and guardrails or access-control configuration. Unlike the model itself, these integrations don't transfer to a new provider and must be rebuilt from scratch. _Teams planning an AI vendor migration can track integration risks like this one on daily.dev._ ### does avoiding vendor lock-in actually influence AI tool buying decisions Not much in practice. Among eight possible buying criteria, 'ability to switch model providers without rebuilding' ranked sixth and 'avoiding dependence on a single vendor' ranked dead last, even though 84% of leaders say avoiding lock-in is important to their AI strategy. Security, privacy, cost control, and compliance rank higher because they affect near-term budgets and audits. _Developers weighing AI vendor trade-offs can follow findings like these on daily.dev before committing to a stack._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Flexibility Over Lock-In: The Enterprise Shift in Agent Strategy](https://daily.dev/posts/flexibility-over-lock-in-the-enterprise-shift-in-agent-strategy-yjvbllgg6) · Docker · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The new AI lock-in](https://daily.dev/posts/the-new-ai-lock-in-xgbehgvrs) · InfoWorld · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Bridging the operational AI gap](https://daily.dev/posts/bridging-the-operational-ai-gap-knfesinoz) · MIT Technology Review · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Break the AI Gridlock at the Intersection of Velocity and Trust](https://daily.dev/posts/break-the-ai-gridlock-at-the-intersection-of-velocity-and-trust-o9zzczkbb) · The New Stack · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Forrester on Getting AI-Ready & Modernizing Workplaces](https://daily.dev/posts/forrester-on-getting-ai-ready-modernizing-workplaces-b4ay2fvk6) · Atlassian · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#architecture](https://daily.dev/tags/architecture), [#mcp](https://daily.dev/tags/mcp) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you build around it is staying put","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj"},"datePublished":"2026-10-21T14:04:40.541Z","dateModified":"2026-10-21T14:20:16.128Z","description":"A Stacklok survey of 520 technical leaders finds enterprises are already swapping AI models in and out, but the integration layer built on top is what's hard...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7dc245872e7603671892247456bd0a20?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7dc245872e7603671892247456bd0a20?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Stack Overflow Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Stack Overflow Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/003e14873238469caea60ebdd34508ae","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/stackov"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"llm,ai-agents,architecture,mcp","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stack Overflow Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/stackov"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Survey Says: You'll swap the model, but everything you build around it is staying put"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/survey-says-you-ll-swap-the-model-but-everything-you-build-around-it-is-staying-put-jtwqimunj#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"what percentage of companies use more than one AI model provider","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Only 8% of surveyed organizations use a single model provider, while 25% use five or more providers. 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