Why Most Valuable AI Systems Are Still Tabular Models

The Hard Part of Predictive AI Isn’t the Model I’ve spent most of my career building predictive systems on tabular data. The highest-value AI systems I’ve seen in production aren’t LLMs. They’re predictive models that operate on structured operational data: customers, orders, shipments, transactions, events, etc. These systems quietly generate millions in value by replacing expensive third-party services, improving operational decisions, and turning predictions into products.