One of the most frequent architectural dilemmas in modern enterprise software is whether to fine-tune an open-weights model (such as Llama 3 or Mistral) or to build a RAG pipeline on top of frontier models.
When to Choose RAG:
- Knowledge changes frequently (real-time inventories, regulatory updates).
- Verifiable citations and document links are legally mandatory.
- Rapid deployment with minimal GPU infrastructure overhead is required.
When to Choose Fine-Tuning:
- Strict adherence to specific stylistic tones or specialized syntax (e.g. niche code generation).
- Latency reduction by distilling knowledge into smaller, faster 7B/8B models running on-premise.
