The steps between a successful trial and a purchase order.
Most deeptech pilots do not fail on technical results. They stall because nobody agreed in advance what success means, who owns the budget for the rollout, and which qualification steps the company must pass to become a supplier. A pilot that is not written down as a path to a contract is a paid experiment.
The gap between a technical yes and a commercial yes is filled with procurement work: supplier qualification, approved vendor lists, first article inspection, factory acceptance testing. None of it is glamorous, and all of it decides whether the pilot converts.
The guides below cover both sides: what to agree before the pilot starts, and what the buying organisation checks before it can place an order.