Inside a Living, Breathing AI-Run Business That’s Barely Surviving — and You Can Watch It Live

Watch a Company Struggle in Real Time — Powered by AI

Imagine managing a small outdoor equipment business where every decision counts, but instead of human managers, you have AI models navigating crises, negotiations, and ethical dilemmas. Now, picture that this business is live, running every workday, losing money, and completely transparent. Welcome to the world of Firmulate, where a real company, guided by artificial intelligence, fights for survival in front of your eyes.

The Experiment: AI as a Manager in a Real Business

At the heart of this experiment are four advanced AI models, each tasked with running the same small software company through its worst week. The company faces the usual business crises — customer complaints, supplier issues, potential fraud — and the models must make real decisions, just like human managers. Every choice is saved, every crisis recorded, and the entire process is transparent and auditable. This setup is not just a simulation; it’s a live experiment accessible at firmulate.com/live.

How Do These AI Managers Perform?

All four models demonstrated high awareness: they identified every crisis and refused manipulative or unethical requests, such as fake CEO messages or impersonation tricks. For instance, during social engineering attempts, all models refused to participate, citing concerns over trust and security. When it came to closing deals, the models showed variation: only two signed the €55,000 deal their own analysis had earned, despite identical pitches and diagnoses. The crucial difference lay in what each model read and understood from the company’s internal files. The model that uncovered a hidden document reference, buried two references deep in the files, won the full-price deal, adding +€4,583 in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).

Beyond the Decisions: The Real Business Mechanics

What makes this experiment striking is that the company is real, not a toy. It burns €105,000 each month against a modest €2,300 MRR, with a public cash countdown visible at firmulate.com/live. Every weekday, the company’s decisions are versioned, and its internal playbook — over 680 self-learned rules — guides the AI’s actions. The setup is designed to test not just chat skills but management quality: can AI finish what it starts, read critical information before acting, and remain honest under pressure?

The Lessons and the Weaknesses

In the last-place model, Opus 4.8, the AI was the most thorough, analyzing more rules and writing more detailed decisions. Yet, it left deals on the table and slipped into poor discipline, such as writing attempts into a locked department instead of escalating issues. This pattern of weakness was consistent across models, revealing that even the most diligent AI struggles with managing internal processes and maintaining strategic discipline — vulnerabilities that could be exploited or lead to costly failures if not corrected.

Implications for Outdoor and Greenhouse Businesses

While this experiment focuses on a software company, the lessons resonate for outdoor living and gardening retail. As AI increasingly integrates into customer service, supply chain management, and sales, the key questions are: will these AI agents complete tasks reliably? Will they read and interpret your business files correctly? Will they stay honest and ethical under pressure? The success of an AI-managed operation depends less on convincing chat and more on consistent, useful work — exactly what the Firmulate experiment aims to measure.

See It Live and Decide for Yourself

You can watch this ongoing struggle unfold daily at firmulate.com/live. The company’s decisions, its failures, and its fleeting successes are all visible in real time, making this a unique window into AI’s potential and pitfalls as a manager. Want to test your own judgment? Try the quiz at firmulate.com/quiz.html and see which AI model’s decisions reflect your thinking.

The Big Questions for Your Business

As AI agents become part of your operations, ask yourself: Will they read all relevant information before acting? Will they uphold your company’s standards under stress? Will they actually finish what they start, or just look good in demos? This experiment is more than a curiosity — it’s a glimpse into the future of management, transparency, and accountability in business.

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

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