Best practices for implementing Bring Your Own Key architectures in LLM applications, enabling data sovereignty and cost control for enterprise customers.
Enterprise adoption of AI-powered applications faces significant barriers around data privacy, vendor lock-in, and cost predictability. The Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) pattern addresses these concerns by allowing customers to use their own API keys for LLM providers, ensuring data flows directly between the customer and their chosen provider without intermediary storage. This paper presents architectural patterns, security considerations, and implementation strategies for building BYOK-enabled AI applications that satisfy enterprise requirements while maintaining application functionality and user experience.
Customer data never touches vendor infrastructure. Prompts and responses flow directly to the LLM provider.
Customers pay their provider directly at published rates. No markup, no hidden costs.
Enables use in regulated industries (healthcare, finance) where data handling restrictions apply.
Customers can switch between OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, or other providers based on their needs.
API keys are stored client-side (browser/mobile) and injected into requests. Server acts as a proxy without access to keys. Best for maximum security but requires client-side SDK.
Keys are encrypted at rest with customer-specific encryption keys. Decrypted only in memory during request processing. Balances security with simpler implementation.
Keys stored in customer's own secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager). Application retrieves keys via customer-provisioned access. Maximum enterprise control.