Open-source AI vs. frontier models: DataCamp’s real-world test

Open models can be dramatically cheaper than frontier APIs — but the price per token is only one part of the real cost of running AI in production. Kim Isenberg and Peter Thum talk with Jonathan Cornelissen, Co-Founder and CEO of DataCamp, and Yusuf Saber, DataCamp’s Chief AI Officer, about the technology behind DataCamp’s AI-native tutor on a learning platform serving more than 19 million people.

Rather than discussing open-source AI in theory, the conversation focuses on what happens when real users, infrastructure costs, teaching quality, latency, privacy and vendor lock-in enter the equation.