The pattern was always the same: a vendor sells you convenience, you build your workflows around their platform, and three years later you're explaining to the board why migrating away would cost more than staying trapped.
I've seen this story play out with AI vendors, automation platforms, data integration tools—you name it. But here's what most people don't realize: it doesn't have to be this way.
The Day I Realized Data Portability Wasn't Just Technical—it Was Survival
Three years ago, I was working on a project connecting a client's ShopWare store to their SAP system. Standard integration work, nothing fancy. But then the vendor changed their API authentication method. Overnight, thousands of orders stopped flowing. The client called me in a panic: "Our entire business just stopped working."
That's when it hit me: we hadn't built an integration. We'd built a dependency.
The same thing happened with AI vendors. Companies spend months training models on proprietary platforms, only to realize they couldn't move their own data without paying ransom fees. Or they'd discover that their "custom" AI was actually just a thin wrapper around someone else's model—and when that someone else changed their terms, the company was screwed.
What Makes Mistral Different (And Why It Took Me 13 Years to Appreciate It)
Most AI companies sell you a service. Mistral sells you capability. Here's what I mean, based on what I've seen go wrong:
The IP stays yours. After 13 years of watching companies lose their custom integrations when vendors got acquired, this matters. With Mistral, when your team fine-tunes a model for your specific use case, those improvements are yours. Forever. No vendor can claim ownership of your work.
Your data never leaves. I've spent years working with government agencies where data sovereignty isn't optional—it's law. Mistral's approach—deploy on-premise or in private clouds—means you can actually use AI without breaking compliance. Revolutionary? No. Just common sense that most vendors ignore because it doesn't fit their cloud-first business model.
From prototype to production without vendor lock-in. When we deployed Mistral for logistics optimization, we went from "this might work" to "this is saving us time and money" without the usual migration nightmare. Not because we're geniuses, but because we weren't fighting our own infrastructure.
The OpenAutomate Parallel (Or: How I Accidentally Built the Same Thing for Workflows)
After 13 years of watching data get trapped in proprietary systems, I realized I'd been building the exact same philosophy for automation—just without the fancy marketing.
Here's what I kept seeing: companies would build their entire operation around n8n or some other platform, then panic when the vendor changed pricing, got acquired, or simply stopped supporting the features they needed.
At OpenAutomate, we didn't set out to copy Mistral. We just arrived at the same conclusion after watching the same pattern repeat for over a decade: owning your automation stack isn't optional anymore.
The Four Conversations That Changed Everything (Because I'd Lived Through the Alternative)
I've had versions of this conversation four times this year:
CTO: "We love your platform, but what happens if OpenAutomate gets acquired?"
Me: "You keep running it. It's open source. You own your workflows. We can't take that away even if we wanted to."
CTO: "But what about support?"
Me: "You can self-host, use our managed service, or hire anyone who understands the codebase. Your choice. After 13 years of watching companies get stuck with vendors who changed their terms, this matters."
CTO: "What about integrations?"
Me: "API-first design. Connect to anything, leave anytime. No proprietary lock-ins. I've seen too many companies rebuild their entire stack because one vendor decided to deprecate an API."
CTO: "Why doesn't everyone do this?"
Me: "Because most vendors make more money from lock-in than from good software."
The European Reality Check (Or: Why I Care About Data Sovereignty After 13 Years of Government Projects)
Here's something that doesn't get talked about enough: after working on government data exchange projects for RIVM, KNMI, and VROM, you learn that data sovereignty isn't theoretical—it's practical survival.
I've spent years building systems where data couldn't leave Dutch soil. Where GDPR compliance wasn't a checkbox but a legal requirement. Where "cloud native" meant "cloud trapped" and companies would spend millions trying to untangle themselves.
Mistral gets this. Their Compute division isn't just about having more GPUs—it's about having European infrastructure for European data. Same reason we built OpenAutomate with data sovereignty as the foundation, not an afterthought.
What "Owning Your Tech Stack" Actually Looks Like After 13 Years of Watching It Go Wrong
Here's what I've learned from 13 years of enterprise integrations:
It's not about building everything yourself. It's about choosing tools that don't make you dependent on someone else's roadmap. I've seen companies spend years building around a vendor's "vision" only to watch that vision change overnight.
It's not about avoiding cloud services. It's about using services that let you leave when you need to. After watching companies pay millions to migrate away from platforms that changed their terms, this isn't theoretical—it's financial survival.
It's not about open source zealotry. It's about recognizing that open standards prevent vendor lock-in. I've seen too many "enterprise solutions" become expensive prisons.
Mistral proves this works for AI. OpenAutomate proves it works for automation. The pattern is bigger than either of us—it's about learning from 13 years of watching data get trapped.
The Question Every CTO Should Ask (Based on What I've Seen Go Wrong)
Next time you're evaluating AI or automation platforms, ask yourself:
"If this vendor doubled their prices tomorrow, could I switch without rebuilding everything?"
If the answer is no, you're not buying technology—you're renting dependency. And I've seen that movie. It doesn't end well.
The companies I work with are starting to get this. They're choosing Mistral for AI and OpenAutomate for automation not because we're the cheapest (though we often are), but because we're the last platforms they'll ever need to migrate from.
The Real Cost of Convenience (As Told by Someone Who's Paid the Bill)
I get it. The big cloud providers make everything easy. One click and you're running AI models. Another click and you have automation workflows.
But that convenience has a hidden price: your ability to change direction. I've seen companies spend more on migration costs than on the original implementation. I've seen CTOs forced into architectural decisions that made no technical sense because their vendor required it.
The alternative isn't harder—it's just different. Instead of "how quickly can we get this running?" the question becomes "how easily can we change this when we need to?"
After 13 years of untangling these messes, I can tell you: the companies that ask the second question sleep better at night.
What Comes Next (And Why It Took Me 13 Years to Write This)
Mistral and OpenAutomate represent something bigger than AI or automation. We're part of a shift toward technology that serves companies instead of trapping them.
For CTOs and architects, this means:
- For AI: You can have sovereign, scalable models without vendor lock-in
- For Automation: You can have portable workflows that adapt to your needs
- For Strategy: You can build for the future without betting your company on someone else's business model
The technology exists. The question is whether you're ready to stop renting your capabilities and start owning them.
After 13 years of watching data get trapped, I'm convinced the answer should be yes.
About the Author
I'm a technology leader who spent 13 years as CTO watching companies get trapped by their own tech choices. I created OpenAutomate because someone needed to prove that independence and convenience aren't mutually exclusive. When not thinking about platform architecture, I'm probably explaining to someone why "cloud native" shouldn't mean "cloud trapped."
Ready to explore what independence looks like for your automation strategy? Let's talk or see OpenAutomate in action at openautomate.nl.
Food for thought: How much of your current tech stack could you migrate in a weekend if you had to?