rethink your priors
Do AI benchmarks tell you which model is best for your work?
The short answer
Not really. A benchmark tells you how a model does on someone else's test, and your work isn't that test. A model can ace a reasoning benchmark and still fumble your expense reports, your contracts or your support tickets. Build a small test of your own instead. Collect ten to twenty real examples from your actual workflow, including the awkward ones, and write down what a good answer looks like for each. Run the models you're considering against them, and have someone who does the work check the answers. Ten real examples beat a vibe check, and they beat a leaderboard. Keep the set and rerun it whenever a new model comes out. That's an eval. It sounds technical. It's a quiz you write before the robot cheats. The leaderboard will change next month. Your expense reports won't.
Outcome first
- Test it on your own work.
- Ten real examples beat a vibe check.
Want this applied to your actual workflow? That part isn't a cartoon. Work with Eduardo. Longer writing: The Compounding Founder.