The AI Lifecycle: From Data to Deployment to Retirement

The seven stages every AI system passes through, what can go wrong at each one, the supply chain behind every model, and where governance controls actually attach.

Content current as of 2026-09.

Lessons

1. One map for everything
2. Before a model exists: framing and data
3. Training and the moment of truth: evaluation
4. Launch — and the long life after launch
5. Retirement, the value chain, and where controls attach