Domain 2 of 4 · Chapter 4 of 5

Developer AI Platform

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Included in this chapter:

  • One platform, a buy-to-build dial
  • Model Garden: the catalog you pick a model from
  • AutoML: a custom model without a data-science team
  • RAG: prebuilt with Vertex AI Search vs the RAG APIs
  • Vertex AI Agent Builder: build a custom agent
  • Exam patterns: which building block?

Choosing a Vertex AI building block

Building blockWhat you getWhere it sits (buy → build)Reach for it when
Model GardenOne catalog of first-party, open, and partner modelsSelection step, before either endYou need to choose a model to build on
AutoMLA custom model trained on your labeled data, no codeManaged (buy) build tierYou have data but no ML team
Prebuilt RAG (Vertex AI Search)A managed retrieval pipeline with grounded, cited answersBuy endYou want grounded answers fast, no ML expertise
RAG APIs (Vertex AI RAG Engine)A composable pipeline you assemble, your choice of vector databaseBuild endYou need control over retrieval
Vertex AI Agent BuilderTools to author, deploy, and ground a custom agentBuild end (agents)You need an agent that reasons and acts

Decision tree

YesYesYesYesNoNoNoNoGround answers in your datawith a managed pipeline?Grounding, but must youcontrol the pipeline?Need an agent thatreasons and acts?Custom model on yourdata, but no ML team?Pick a model inModel GardenPrebuilt RAGVertex AI SearchRAG APIsVertex AI RAG EngineVertex AI Agent Builderbuild a custom agentAutoMLtrain on your data
Cheat sheet

Cheat sheet

  • Vertex AI is the one platform developers build gen AI on
  • Start with the managed option, drop to the API only when a need forces it
  • Use AutoML to train a custom model on your data without an ML team
  • AutoML covers image, tabular, text, and video data
  • Vertex AI Search has had several names for the same product
  • Build a custom agent with Vertex AI Agent Builder
  • Buy a prebuilt agent before building one with Vertex AI Agent Builder
  • Model Garden doesn't just find a model, it tunes and deploys it too

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Also tested in

References

  1. Vertex AI
  2. Introduction to Vertex AI (unified platform)
  3. AutoML
  4. Vertex AI beginner's guide
  5. Vertex AI Search
  6. Vertex AI RAG Engine overview
  7. Vertex AI Agent Builder