How to Evaluate AI-Native Delivery Partners

AI-native delivery should mean more than giving engineers access to coding assistants. The article distinguishes AI-assisted providers from partners that redesign discovery, architecture, engineering, testing, governance, deployment, and operations around AI. Its evaluation framework emphasizes engineering depth, AI/ML capability, data and cloud foundations, production readiness, modernization, governance, and measurable outcomes. Technology leaders should test whether a partner can integrate AI into existing estates and operate it responsibly in production—not simply demonstrate faster development with AI tools.