Sustainability of an AI project means the obligation to preserve and operate the result for a set period after support ends, generally three to five years depending on the size of the enterprise. For technology solutions, this is more demanding than for construction: models have to be updated, the vendor changes terms, data becomes outdated, and without an internal owner, someone will simply stop using the solution. The plan should therefore include items that do not appear in the application – subscriptions, vendor support, computing costs and the time of the employee who manages the solution. During the monitoring period, the provider verifies whether the output is still in operation and whether it meets the declared indicators. Ending operation before the deadline expires means returning a proportional part of the contribution. It is therefore sensible to budget for an annual operating cost amounting to a few percent of the investment and to have a specific employee designated as responsible.
See also: Project sustainability, Follow-up monitoring report, Licences and subscriptions in a project.
