Exit strategy for AI platforms: what to settle for leaving before you sign

Why settle the exit when you start?

An AI platform gathers value over time: stored documents, applications with carefully worked-out instructions, groups and permissions, connected systems, logs as proof. If you cannot take all this with you when you switch, you stay tied, even when price or performance no longer fit. When you sign the contract, your negotiating position is at its strongest; when the contract ends, at its weakest.

Which data should you get back?

What	Why it matters	What to look for
Stored documents	Basis of many answers	Originals, not just extracted text
Applications and their instructions	Many months of work	Readable format, such as text or JSON
Groups, roles, permissions	Basis for data protection	If they come from your own user directory, they stay with you anyway
Configuration of the connections	Effort with every new provider	Which systems, with which permissions
Logs	Proof for supervisory authorities and audits	Export as CSV or via an interface before the end
Chat histories	often a personal working aid	Where are they stored, who can export them?

Set out in the contract: which data, which format, which deadline, who bears the costs and when data is deleted. Under Art. 28(3)(g) GDPR, the processor must, at the controller’s choice, delete or return personal data once the service ends; have the deletion confirmed to you.

What does the EU Data Act require when switching?

The Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) has applied since 12 September 2025. Chapter VI gives customers of data processing services, including cloud services such as software as a service, minimum rights when switching provider or moving back in-house:

• Notice period: at most two months to initiate the switch.
• Transition period: as a rule at most 30 days, during which the provider supports the switch; longer only if this is technically not feasible, with reasons given.
• Data retrieval: at least 30 days after the transition period to retrieve data; deletion afterwards.
• Costs: Until 11 January 2027, the provider may only charge its direct costs of the switch; from 12 January 2027, no switching charges at all. Regular fees and agreed penalties for early termination are not affected.

Exceptions apply, among others, to services that are mostly custom-built for one customer and to trial versions. The Data Act applies in the EU, so in Germany and Austria, but not in Switzerland. Check that a provider’s contract terms reflect these rights.

What makes a platform less dependent?

• Sign-in from your user directory: People, groups and roles come from your directory and stay there.
• Standard interfaces: Your own applications that use a widespread interface can be pointed at another platform by changing the address.
• Data stays in your systems: If the AI reads from your systems via connectors instead of copying everything, the source stays with you.
• Running it in-house: If the platform runs on your hardware, data and backups are with you anyway.
• Protection in case of insolvency: Ask what happens if the provider no longer exists, for example escrow or release of the source code.

How term, perpetual licence and termination fit together is explained in the guide Licensing models for AI platforms.

How do you test the exit?

Ask to be shown an export during the proof of concept or the trial installation: an application with its instruction, a document, an extract from the log. An exit that nobody has tried out is only a promise. Make the return of all data at the end of the contract a mandatory criterion in the tender; see the tender guide for pointers.

Not legal advice: Whether and how the Data Act applies to your contract is for your legal department to check. Research as of 11 October 2026.

How does this work with basebox?

Apps with their instructions can be exported, as can knowledge bases and settings. In the cloud, you can export your apps, knowledge bases and settings for 30 days after the contract ends; we then delete your environment, and the last backups expire 7 days later. With the server, data and backups are with you; basebox has no copy. Sign-in and groups come from your user directory (LDAP, OIDC or SAML). We export the audit log as CSV on request. For your own applications, there is an OpenAI-compatible interface. If basebox becomes insolvent, the code will be published as open source so that you can keep running basebox. Switching between cloud and server is possible at any time, for a flat fee of €4,200.