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Engineering Insights

Deep dives on production AI systems, DevOps patterns, and the hard problems we've solved in the field.

Abstract bar chart composition in Prodinit brand colors representing voice agent test signal measurement and latency evaluation
Voice AI·12 min read

Testing Voice Agents: Barge-In, Latency and Structured Eval Logs

A practical how-to on testing voice agents for barge-in detection, latency segments, and structured eval logging — including test scenarios, threshold targets, and the eval harness Prodinit runs in production.

Abstract concentric circles representing knowledge compression from a large teacher LLM to a smaller student model in the distillation process
Model Distillation·11 min read

Model Distillation for LLMs: Cut Inference Cost Without Losing Quality

A production playbook for LLM model distillation — from teacher-student dataset generation to fine-tuning and eval gates, with a GPT-4.1 to GPT-4o-mini pipeline as the proof.

Abstract geometric composition with two contrasting circles representing self-hosted LiveKit versus LiveKit Cloud scale trade-offs
LiveKit·12 min read

Self-Hosted LiveKit vs LiveKit Cloud: Cost and Scale Trade-offs

Self-hosted LiveKit vs LiveKit Cloud: when to migrate, what you give up, what you gain, and what operating the self-hosted stack actually requires — from running both in production.

Abstract geometric composition with three stacked layers representing Ollama, vLLM, and NVIDIA NIM serving runtimes for on-prem LLM deployment
On-Prem LLM·11 min read

On-Prem LLM Deployment: Ollama, vLLM and NVIDIA NIM in Production

A production guide to on-prem LLM deployment — how Ollama, vLLM, and NVIDIA NIM compare on throughput, GPU sizing, and operational maturity, with a decision framework for choosing a serving runtime.

Abstract geometric composition with two opposing circular systems representing a LiveKit vs Pipecat voice AI framework comparison
Voice AI·10 min read

LiveKit vs Pipecat for Production Voice AI: A Practitioner's Comparison

A practitioner's comparison of LiveKit vs Pipecat for production voice AI — transport, pipeline flexibility, scaling model, telephony, and observability, from running both in production.

Abstract concentric geometric composition representing layered security controls in a HIPAA-compliant LLM deployment
HIPAA·13 min read

HIPAA-Compliant LLM Deployment: Architecture for Healthcare AI

Architecture patterns for HIPAA-compliant LLM deployment — BAA coverage, PHI de-identification with Microsoft Presidio, VPC-private inference, and audit logging from production healthcare AI.

Geometric abstract composition representing LLMOps infrastructure layers and operational pipelines
LLMOps·9 min read

LLMOps Consulting Services: What They Cover and When to Hire

A BOFU guide to LLMOps consulting services — what they cover, when to hire, how consulting compares to in-house, and what an 8–12 week engagement delivers in practice.

Geometric composition with concentric rings and circles representing audio waveform signals in a voice AI evaluation metrics framework
Voice AI·13 min read

How to Evaluate Voice AI Agents: Metrics Framework and Tooling

Five-layer voice AI evaluation framework: latency by stage, WER, barge-in handling, response quality, and call outcome rate — with Langfuse instrumentation and CI testing patterns.

Abstract scoring grid representing an LLM evaluation rubric with dimension scores visualised across faithfulness, relevance, and safety
LLM Evaluation·12 min read

LLM Evaluation Rubric: A Production Scoring Template

A practitioner's guide to designing LLM evaluation rubrics that hold up in production — five scoring dimensions, a ready-to-use judge prompt template, calibration steps, and CI gate thresholds.

Diagram showing VAPI, Retell, and ElevenLabs voice agents connected to a phone number through a Cloudonix SIP trunk
Voice AI·8 min read

How to Give an AI Voice Agent a Phone Number with Cloudonix

How to connect VAPI, Retell, and ElevenLabs voice agents to the public phone network with Cloudonix SIP trunking — the cx-vcc CLI, inbound routing, outbound BYOC, and passing data via SIP headers.

Architecture diagram of a self-hosted LiveKit production deployment with standalone server, ECS agent workers, and Egress on AWS
Voice AI·13 min read

Self-Hosting LiveKit at Scale: Architecture from 90K+ Calls/Month

The complete production architecture for self-hosting LiveKit — standalone server, Python agent workers, LiveKit Egress on ECS, and multi-metric autoscaling from a team running 90K+ calls/month with five selectable AI pipelines.

Diagram of Cloudonix core concepts: a CXML Response document with Dial, Gather, and Converse verbs building a voice agent call flow
Voice AI·8 min read

Cloudonix Core Concepts: CXML, Sessions, and Building Voice Agents

What CXML, sessions, the Converse verb, and Cloudonix's SDKs actually are — and how the pieces fit together to build a production voice agent on the Cloudonix platform.

Air-gapped LLM deployment architecture — private models served inside an isolated network with zero internet egress
Air-Gapped·11 min read

Air-Gapped LLM Deployment: Run Private Models with Zero Egress

A practitioner's guide to air-gapped LLM deployment — the two architectures that work (self-hosted open-weight models vs Bedrock via VPC endpoint), GPU sizing, model ingestion, and the security controls regulated buyers require.

Architecture diagram showing a self-hosted LiveKit stack connected to the public phone network through a Cloudonix SIP trunk
Voice AI·9 min read

Connect LiveKit to the Phone Network with Cloudonix SIP Trunking

A practitioner's guide to connecting a self-hosted LiveKit voice stack to the public phone network with Cloudonix SIP trunking — SIP URI registration, CXML inbound routing, outbound BYOC, and the SBC work you skip.

Abstract geometric composition representing a boutique AI engineering consulting firm delivering a production AI system
AI Engineering Partner·11 min read

AI Engineering Consulting Startups: What They Are and When to Choose One

A definition guide for CTOs evaluating AI engineering consulting startups versus large agencies — covering what they build, how they differ, when to choose one, and what to look for before signing.

Abstract geometric composition representing document splitting and vector retrieval in a RAG pipeline chunking workflow
RAG·10 min read

RAG Pipeline Chunking Strategies: Split Documents for Better Retrieval

A practitioner's guide to RAG pipeline chunking strategies — covering fixed-size, semantic, structural, and hierarchical approaches with chunk size guidance and a decision matrix for each corpus type.

Abstract geometric composition representing the decision between hiring AI engineers in-house and partnering with an AI engineering firm in 2026
AI Engineering·11 min read

How to Hire AI Engineers in 2026 (Build vs Partner)

A decision framework for CTOs and engineering leads evaluating whether to hire AI engineers in-house or partner with an AI engineering firm — covering salary benchmarks, hiring timelines, delivery speed, and when each path wins.

Diagram of a six-layer LLMOps stack moving an AI system from demo to production, with serving, evaluation, observability, and cost-control layers highlighted
LLMOps·11 min read

LLMOps in 2026: AI Demo to Production Guide

A 2026 LLMOps guide for teams stuck at the demo stage — the six-layer production stack (serving, evals, observability, CI/CD, cost control, governance), a phased rollout, and the mistakes that keep AI systems out of production.

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