Infrastructure & Technology

Model-Agnostic Architecture - Why Vendor Lock-In With LLMs Is Dangerous

Model-agnostic means: Business logic is decoupled from the language model. When the model changes, agents, Decision Layer, and rule sets remain unchanged. No vendor lock-in.

Bert Gogolin
Bert Gogolin
CEO & Founder 4 min read

The Risk: One Model, One Vendor

Many companies build their AI strategy on a single model. “We use ChatGPT” or “We run on Claude.” Prompts are optimized for that model. Integrations are built for that vendor’s API. Workflows are tailored to that model’s characteristics.

Then one of three things happens: The vendor raises prices. The vendor changes the API. A new model appears that is significantly better or cheaper. In every case: The entire implementation needs to be adapted.

In the LLM market, this happens fast. Over the past 18 months, prices have halved, new vendors have entered the market, open-source models have surpassed proprietary models in benchmarks. Anyone locked into a single vendor cannot capitalize on these developments.

Model-Agnostic as an Architectural Principle

In the Gosign reference architecture, the Model Layer is an interchangeable layer. Business logic, including rule sets, decision logic, and workflows, is implemented in the Decision Layer and Agent Layer, not in the model.

When a new model becomes available, it can be integrated without changing the layers above it. The agent does not know which model it is using. It sends a request to the Model Layer and receives a response. Which model delivers the response is irrelevant to the agent.

Multi-Model Routing

An agent can use multiple models simultaneously. The routing is rule-based:

Cost optimization: Simple tasks (document classification, data extraction) run on a cost-efficient model. Complex tasks (decision support, rule interpretation) run on a more powerful model.

Data residency: Sensitive data goes to self-hosted models (Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek). Non-critical data can be routed through cloud APIs.

Failover: If a model provider goes down, the system can automatically switch to an alternative model.

The routing rules are configured in the Decision Layer and fully traceable.

Supported Models

The Gosign architecture currently supports:

  • Claude (Anthropic) - Cloud API
  • ChatGPT (OpenAI) - Cloud API
  • Gemini (Google) - Cloud API
  • Llama (Meta) - Self-Hosted or Cloud
  • Mistral - Self-Hosted or Cloud
  • DeepSeek - Self-Hosted or Cloud
  • gpt-oss (OpenAI) - Self-Hosted or Cloud

New models can be integrated as soon as they are accessible via a standard API.

More on this: AI Infrastructure

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Model-Agnostic Vendor Lock-In LLM Architecture Multi-Model
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Frequently Asked Questions

What does model-agnostic mean?

Model-agnostic means: The architecture is not tied to a specific language model. The Model Layer is interchangeable. Agents, Decision Layer, rule sets, and integrations work with any supported model.

Why is vendor lock-in with LLMs dangerous?

Because the LLM market is changing rapidly. Prices shift, models are discontinued, new models appear, licensing terms change. Building on a single model creates dependency on a single vendor.

Can an agent use multiple models simultaneously?

Yes. Multi-model routing: A cost-efficient model for pre-classification, a more powerful one for complex decisions. The routing is rule-based and configured in the Decision Layer.

Which process should your first agent handle?

Talk to us about a concrete use case.

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