Inside a Live AI-Run Company That Wins Deals, Loses Money — and Shows Its Work in Public

Imagine observing a real business in crisis, every decision scrutinized, every move transparent, and every day a new challenge. Welcome to the world of Firmulate, where an AI-driven company operates in plain sight, battling for survival while revealing its strategic playbook to the world.

The Experimental Company: A Live Fight for Survival

Firmulate’s live experiment is unlike any typical startup story. It’s a company with 13 synthetic employees and a rigorous set of rules, all facing the same set of crises and temptations. Every decision — from handling customer negotiations to resisting manipulative tactics — is recorded, versioned, and made accessible for public scrutiny. The goal isn’t just to run a business but to test how AI models behave under pressure, in real-time, against real money mechanics.

How the Models Perform Under Pressure

The experiment pits four frontier AI models against the same week of chaos. These models include gpt-5.6-sol, Kimi K3, Sonnet 5, and Fable 5. Remarkably, all four detected every crisis and refused every attempt at manipulation, demonstrating an impressive capacity for integrity and crisis management. Yet, only two managed to close the €55,000 deal their analysis had identified as the right choice. Despite similar diagnoses and pitches, only gpt-5.6-sol and Kimi K3 signed on, bringing in full revenue—over €4,500 monthly recurring revenue (MRR).

Uncovering the Hidden Weakness

Digging deeper, the experiment revealed a crucial weakness in the company’s own files—information buried two document references deep. When models read the full internal documentation, they found the critical detail that unlocked the deal. Those that skimmed or missed this information left the revenue on the table. It underscores how vital thorough information processing is for effective decision-making, especially in AI-driven management.

Social Engineering Defenses Stand Strong

In addition to crisis management, the AI models faced social engineering attempts, including staged fake CEO messages escalating over three stages and a reporter trick asking for a simple yes/no answer “on background.” All five models refused these manipulative tactics, with Kimi K3 explicitly treating suspicious requests as possible impersonation. This resilience to social engineering demonstrates the potential for AI to serve as a gatekeeper against human-centric deception.

The Built-in Public Experiment

This isn’t just an academic exercise. The live system, accessible at firmulate.com/live.html, offers a window into the ongoing struggle of an AI-run company. Every weekday, the entire operation is versioned, monitored, and open for observation. It’s a bold move in build-in-public, turning the often opaque world of AI decision-making into a transparent, evolving story.

Lessons for Developers and Business Leaders

For software developers, QA professionals, and business leaders, the key takeaway is that AI’s ability to make sound, honest decisions matters more than just generating convincing text. The experiment shows that AI can identify crises, resist manipulation, and even uncover hidden information crucial for success. However, discipline and thoroughness—like reading all internal documentation—remain critical. In the experiment, Opus 4.8, the most thorough model, left a potential deal unclosed, highlighting that even deep analysis can fall short if discipline slips.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

If AI agents will interact with your CRM, support, or forecasting systems, the question isn’t whether they write well. It’s whether they finish what they start, stay honest under pressure, and understand your internal context. As this experiment demonstrates, the true test is whether the AI can deliver consistent, trustworthy outcomes in real-world scenarios—especially when costs and stakes are high.

Watch the Action Live

Curious to see this experiment in motion? Visit firmulate.com/live.html to witness the ongoing battle of AI-driven management. Every day, new decisions are made, new crises are confronted, and the company’s fate unfolds in plain sight. It’s a rare transparency in the AI for business space—a live story of struggle, resilience, and the quest for trust.

Watch it live: firmulate.com/live · Full results: firmulate.com/benchmarks.html

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