June 8, 2026·By Stephen Talley·11 min readThe reliability gap: your AI demo works. Production is where it breaks.The model isn't your problem. The demo proves capability; production tests reliability, and they're not the same number. Here's why agents that look perfect fail quietly in front of real users — and the reliability-first work that closes the gap before a customer finds it.reliabilityagent-systemsproductionoperatorsinfrastructure