Term
ROUTE
ROUTE is a five-skill discipline for governing a mix of language models: Register, Objective typing, Utilize policy, Track, Evolve. Register catalogs every model with mandate, cost class, privacy class, and retirement status. Objective typing names what a task actually requires before a model is chosen. Utilize policy writes the routing rules, cascades, and fallbacks. Track measures cost, latency, and quality per route. Evolve promotes, demotes, and retires on a cadence. A leaderboard pick is a collection. ROUTE is a portfolio. The book that owns this name is available now in English and Dutch.
When to use it
Use it when every task hits the flagship model and the bill arrives later. If the team cannot name which model owns which job, you do not have a routing policy. You have a default.
Do not confuse with
Not a vendor AI-stack slide, not a capital-markets product, and not a PORTFOLIO acronym. ROUTE is the named system in The Model Portfolio, available now in English and Dutch paperback, hardcover, and Kindle.