Most developers are still copy-pasting ChatGPT prompts into their apps and calling it "AI integration."

Here's what actually works right now:

1. Structured Outputs — Stop parsing raw text. Use JSON mode with schema validation. Every major provider supports it now and it eliminates 90% of output parsing bugs.

2. Embeddings + Vector Search — If you're building any kind of search, recommendations, or knowledge base, this is the foundational layer. Cheaper than you think, faster than you'd expect.

3. Function Calling / Tool Use — The bridge between "AI chatbot" and "AI agent." Let your models call your APIs. This is where real product differentiation happens.

4. Streaming with Server-Sent Events — Nobody wants to stare at a loading spinner. SSE gives you token-by-token streaming in a few lines of code.

5. Multimodal Inputs — Images, audio, video — modern models handle them all. If your app only accepts text, you're leaving capabilities on the table.

I break down stuff like this every week in Neural Dispatch — practical AI for developers who actually ship code, not just read about it.