What's the actual difference between the frameworks layer and the orchestration layer?
Frameworks like PyTorch or Hugging Face are for building and running models themselves — training, fine-tuning, inference. Orchestration tools like LangChain or LlamaIndex sit a level above: they manage how an application calls models, chains multiple calls together, retrieves context, and maintains conversation memory. You can use a foundation model via an API with zero framework code, but any nontrivial application logic around it usually wants an orchestration layer.
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The Generative AI Tech Stack, Layer by LayerFrom GPU infrastructure to model safety, a working map of the nine layers that turn a foundation model into a shippable GenAI product.
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