What is local AI?
Local AI means running an AI model on your own computer or server instead of a cloud service. Your questions and documents never leave your network. Open models have become good enough to handle a lot of everyday business work this way.
Why businesses choose local AI
- Privacy and GDPR: sensitive data stays on your hardware, so you don't depend on a third party's promises.
- Predictable costs: no price per question. After setup you mostly pay for power and maintenance.
- No vendor lock-in: you choose the model and can switch at any time.
- Works offline: useful for secure environments or unreliable internet.
What can local AI do?
- Search your own documents and get answers with a link to the source.
- Summarise long reports, contracts or meeting notes.
- Draft emails, quotes and letters in your style.
- Transcribe calls and meetings without uploading audio.
- Extract data from forms and invoices.
What do you need?
For a small team, a single workstation with a modern graphics card can run a capable model. Larger teams use a dedicated server in the office or a private server in a European data centre. We size it to your use, so you don't overspend.
When is cloud AI the better choice?
The biggest cloud models are still stronger at complex reasoning, and you don't need hardware. For non-sensitive work, cloud AI is often fine. Many businesses use both: local for sensitive data, cloud for the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Is local AI GDPR compliant?
Local AI makes compliance much easier, because the data doesn't leave your environment. You still need good access control and clear policies.
Is local AI as good as ChatGPT?
For focused tasks like searching documents, summarising and drafting, modern open models come close. For the hardest reasoning tasks, the largest cloud models still lead.
What does local AI cost?
It depends on the size of your team and the hardware you need. It's a one-time setup plus maintenance, with no cost per question.
