Domain-Specific Small Language Models

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Efficient AI for local deployment
Guglielmo Iozzia
Foreword by Matthew R. Versaggi
  • May 2026
  • ISBN 9781633436701
  • 376 pages
  • printed in black & white
print book available May 19, 2026
ePub + liveBook available May 19, 2026

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Look inside
Bigger isn’t always better. Train and tune highly focused language models optimized for domain specific tasks.

When you need a language model to respond accurately and quickly about a specific field of knowledge, the sprawling capacity of a LLM may hurt more than it helps. Domain-Specific Small Language Models teaches you to build generative AI models optimized for specific fields.

In Domain-Specific Small Language Models you’ll discover:

  • Model sizing best practices
  • Open source libraries, frameworks, utilities and runtimes
  • Fine-tuning techniques for custom datasets
  • Hugging Face’s libraries for SLMs
  • Running SLMs on commodity hardware
  • Model optimization or quantization

Perfect for cost- or hardware-constrained environments, Small Language Models (SLMs) train on domain specific data for high-quality results in specific tasks. In Domain-Specific Small Language Models you’ll develop SLMs that can generate everything from Python code to protein structures and antibody sequences—all on commodity hardware.

about the technology

Small-footprint language models trained on custom data sets and hosted locally can perform as well as large generalist models in speed and accuracy, often at a fraction of the cost. Domain-Specific Small Language Models shows you how to build privacy-preserving and regulation-compliant SLMs for agentic systems, specialist applications, and deployment on the edge.

about the book

This is a practical book that shows you how to adapt pretrained open source models to your domain using transfer learning and parameter-efficient fine-tuning. You’ll learn to minimize cost through optimization and quantization, develop secure APIs to serve your models, and deploy SLMs on commodity hardware—including small devices. The hands-on examples include integrating SLMs into RAG systems and agentic workflows.

what's inside

  • ONNX and other quantization methods
  • Integrate SLMs into end-to-end applications
  • Deploy SLMs on laptops, smartphones, and other devices

about the reader

For AI engineers familiar with Python.

about the author

Guglielmo Iozzia is a Director of AI and Applied Mathematics at Merck & Co. and a Distinguished Member of the American Society for Artificial Intelligence. He specializes in AI biomedical applications.

The technical editor on this book was Riccardo Mattivi.

A rare combination of conceptual clarity and practical guidance.

From the Foreword by Matthew R. Versaggi

Gives the reader a jumpstart toward making efficient, focused models with well-controlled data.

Janelle Shane, AI Weirdness

Effectively cuts through the hype to focus on the tangible business value of localized, efficient artificial intelligence.

Luca Longo, University College Cork

A timely and much-needed reference for both researchers and industry practitioners.

Ahmed Serag, Weill Cornell Medicine

Excellent collection of tips and techniques.

Andrew R. Freed, IBM
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choose your plan

team

monthly
annual
$49.99
$499.99
only $41.67 per month
  • five seats for your team
  • access to all Manning books, MEAPs, liveVideos, liveProjects, and audiobooks!
  • choose another free product every time you renew
  • choose twelve free products per year
  • exclusive 50% discount on all purchases
  • renews monthly, pause or cancel renewal anytime
  • renews annually, pause or cancel renewal anytime
  • Domain-Specific Small Language Models ebook for free