Taxonomy maps eight post-training adaptation techniques for model governance
A new taxonomy organizes the fragmented landscape of post-training adaptation techniques, a critical capability for deploying and modifying large models in production. The framework maps eight major adaptation families across six dimensions: mechanism, objective, data needs, persistence, scope, and model architecture. This systematization matters because practitioners and researchers currently lack shared vocabulary for comparing methods like fine-tuning, retrieval augmentation, and model editing, creating friction in governance and reproducibility. The taxonomy directly addresses a scaling bottleneck: as organizations deploy models across diverse domains, the ability to precisely describe and audit what modifications have been applied becomes essential for safety, compliance, and operational transparency.62
