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The demo boundary
Most demonstrations run a single happy path with clean inputs, a live human operator, and no consequence for a wrong action. That is a legitimate way to explore feasibility, and a poor basis for an operating decision.
The questions that decide production readiness are rarely about the model. They are about what the software is allowed to do, what happens when a system is unavailable, and who can stop it.
Demonstration versus production
The layer a demo usually skips
- Identity and authentication for the software itself
- Authorization scoped to specific systems and actions
- Durable workflow state across long-running work
- Tool and integration error handling
- Explicit exception states with owners
- Approval gates before consequential actions
- Execution traces and evidence retention
- Evaluation against a fixed test set
- Controlled rollout and a kill switch
- Rollback and recovery procedures
Why this matters more in healthcare and life sciences
In these environments an incorrect action can affect coverage, care timing, records, or regulated evidence. The cost of an unrecoverable mistake is not symmetric with the benefit of a slightly faster run, which is why authority should be earned incrementally and always be revocable.
Sources
Authoritative references
Rules, standards, and guidance can change. The links below were reviewed on September 21, 2026.