This research identifies core challenges and provides a technology roadmap for transitioning foundation model applications from demos to production-ready systems.

• Engineering Challenges: Reliability issues, high implementation costs, and complex systems design
• Scalability Concerns: Performance degradation at scale and infrastructure requirements
• Compliance Hurdles: Meeting privacy regulations and managing cross-cutting concerns
• Strategic Roadmap: Practical guidance for technical architects and engineering leaders

For engineering teams, this research provides a structured approach to anticipate and address the technical debt, architectural decisions, and integration challenges when deploying foundation model-based systems in production environments.

From Cool Demos to Production-Ready FMware: Core Challenges and a Technology Roadmap