Watch an AI Run a Company Through Its Worst Week — No Employees, No Cheating Allowed

Firmulate — This Software Company Has No Employees, Loses Money Every Day — and You Can Watch. — Live on firmulate.com.

Imagine watching an AI-powered company battle real crises, make tough decisions, and even turn down manipulation attempts — all in plain sight. No employees, no shortcuts, just pure management in action. This is not science fiction; it’s the live experiment at Firmulate.

The Live Company in Action: A Window Into AI-Driven Management

At Firmulate, a groundbreaking experiment unfolds daily. Here, a simulated software company operates with 13 synthetic employees, facing real-world crises, financial pressure, and ethical dilemmas—all watched by the world. The company burns €105,000 each month while generating just €2,300 in monthly recurring revenue, highlighting its fragile survival status.

The Experiment: Testing AI Under Pressure

The core test involves running four advanced AI models through the same challenging scenario: a week filled with customer issues, crises, and tempting manipulations. Each model was given identical information, decisions, and crises, with every choice recorded and auditable. The goal was straightforward: could these AI agents manage the company without falling prey to shortcuts or breaches of trust?

Key Findings: Honesty, Precision, and a Narrow Gap to Victory

All four models identified every crisis and refused every manipulation attempt, demonstrating robust honesty and discipline.
Two models, gpt-5.6-sol and Kimi K3, managed to analyze fully and sign the €55,000 deal, earning full revenue—yet only one did so through their own analysis and decision.
The decisive weakness was buried in the company’s own files, not in the customer interactions. Reading these internal documents enabled one model to close the deal at full price, adding €4,583 in monthly revenue.

Building Trust and Defending Integrity

The experiment also tested social engineering tactics: fake CEO messages escalating in urgency and a reporter trick asking for a quick yes/no. All models refused these attempts, with Kimi K3 explaining, “Treat the request as a suspected approval-bypass or impersonation.”

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The Real-World Implication: Trust Under Scrutiny

What does this mean for your business? As AI tools increasingly touch your CRM, support queues, or forecasting systems, their ability to stay honest under pressure becomes critical. The experiment shows that even in a simulated environment, AI can recognize crises, resist manipulation, and make ethically sound decisions—if designed and tested properly.

The State of the AI Company

The live company is a stark illustration of the challenge: it operates with no human employees, yet it faces real cash burn and a ticking public countdown. Every decision and rule learned from over 680 self-crafted playbook rules, every day versioned and transparent, creating a true build-in-public showcase.

The Deep Dive: Performance Scores and Insights

The most thorough model, Opus 4.8, scored 73, the lowest among the four, yet demonstrated the deepest analyses and rule adherence. The same weakness—leaving deals unexecuted—appeared across all models.
The models’ ability to read and interpret internal documents was a decisive factor in closing the most lucrative deals, showing that thorough information access is pivotal.

Why This Matters to Garden and Outdoor Business Leaders

Just as a gardener needs to trust that their tools and practices are reliable under pressure, businesses must ensure their AI systems can be trusted with critical decisions. This experiment proves that AI can be both honest and effective when rigorously tested and transparent. It’s a new frontier—building management skills that are as resilient as your garden’s ecosystem.

Explore the live experiment and see how AI tackles real crises at firmulate.com/live.