AI Economics: Vendor Lock-in Economics — The Hidden Cost of AI Platform Dependency

Vendor lock-in represents one of the most underestimated economic risks in enterprise AI adoption, with organizations discovering the true costs only when strategic pivots become necessary. This paper provides a comprehensive economic analysis of AI vendor lock-in, examining the mechanisms that create dependency, quantifying switching costs across major platforms (2.3x to 5.7x original implementation), and developing frameworks for optimal platform selection including the Vendor Dependency Index (VDI).