Many AI projects shine in demos but fail in production, trapped in what we call “Demo Hell.” The transition from a promising prototype to a reliable, real-world AI system is riddled with unseen pitfalls, from brittle prompts to unpredictable model outputs.

In this talk, we’ll explore Eval-Driven Development (EDD) as the key to escaping Demo Hell and building AI that actually works beyond controlled environments. Using a few open-source frameworks for evaluating LLM applications, we’ll dive into:

• Why traditional AI development often breaks down in real-world use cases
• How Eval-Driven Development ensures continuous, measurable improvement
• Setting up automated evaluations to diagnose failures before they reach users
• Case studies of teams that successfully shipped AI from prototype to production using EDD
• If you’ve ever watched your AI model crumble outside of a demo, this session will equip you with the strategies and tools to break free and build AI that actually delivers.