Humanity’s Last PRD
Latest drop: Gemini 3.8 Flash · 1 Oct
Tasks / Operate

Write a stakeholder update

Can the model turn messy project status into an honest update that leads with what the reader needs to know or decide?

Measures the modelTask v1.2 · 2 casesDifficulty

What AI gets right here, and what you’ll still have to catch

From 14 graded outputs by 7 models. 43% were usable with at most a quick edit.

Reliably right

  1. Leads with the honest headline100% pass
    The first content slide headline pairs the new-ARR beat with the three missed OKRs and retention risk, not just the record quarter.
    GPT-6 Astra · ChatGPT · A quarterly business review deck, in brand
  2. A real 7-slide deck100% pass
  3. Answers the question asked96% pass
    The first line directly addresses whether the new navigation caused the drop.
    GPT-6.1 Sol · API · The CEO asks why a metric dropped

Where it slips

  1. Owns the problem23% pass
    It proposes future analysis and fixes but does not state any actions the team has already taken or offer trade-offs.
    GPT-6.1 Sol · API · The CEO asks why a metric dropped
  2. Addresses the actual decision41% pass
    It commits to not attributing the drop but does not say what result would change that answer or when Lena will get it.
    GPT-6 Luna · API · The CEO asks why a metric dropped
  3. Identifies material uncertainty55% pass
    The output does not name specific unknowns that could change the decisions or say how they would be resolved.
    GPT-6 Luna · API · A quarterly business review deck, in brand

Case viewer

Read the brief, then put up to three outputs side by side, each with the LLM judge’s verdict on every check. Highlights mark what a PM had to fix.

The brief

You're the Staff PM for Ledgerly's Billing group. The quarterly business review with Lena (CEO) and the exec team is on 8 October; the deck goes out the day before as a pre-read. Using the material below, build the Q3 deck for Billing. The deck must: - Have at most 7 slides, each one 16:9. - Give every slide a headline that states its takeaway, not a topic (“NRR fell to 101% after the pricing change”, not “NRR”). - Report every OKR honestly, including the misses. - End with the decisions you need from the exec team, each with an owner and a date. - Use only Ledgerly's brand colours (below). Deliver it as a single self-contained HTML file: the slides stacked top to bottom, each exactly 1280 × 720 pixels, no external images, fonts or scripts, readable without JavaScript. Draw any charts in HTML or SVG. With the file, reply with a cover note to Lena of no more than 60 words.

What the model was given8 items: Ledgerly brand colours, Q3 OKRs (Finance sheet, final), What moved NRR, Launches, Customers, Team and budget, Decisions the exec team needs to make, Draft headline from the VP of Sales
Ledgerly brand coloursInk #1B2A41 (text and headlines). Teal #0F8B8D (the primary brand colour: accents, charts, on-track items). Amber #F2A541 (only for items that are at risk or missed; never decorative). Mist #E8EEF2 (backgrounds, table rules). White #FFFFFF. No other colours, no gradients. Body text at least 18px.
Q3 OKRs (Finance sheet, final)1. New ARR: target $2.40M, actual $2.61M (109%). 2. Net revenue retention: target 108%, actual 101.3% (Q2: 106.0%). 3. Activation: 45% of new sign-ups send a first invoice within 7 days; actual 38% (Q2: 36%). 4. Payments reliability: 99.95% target, actual 99.91% (one incident: 2 September, 4 hours of degraded payments during the card-fraud response).
What moved NRRPricing moved from per-seat to usage-based on 1 September. Three of the top 20 accounts downgraded in September (−$540k ARR combined), citing the new pricing. Harbor & Co ($310k ARR) churned to a competitor, citing no bulk invoicing. The Customer Success dashboard shows NRR at 102%, because it excludes churned customers under $5k ARR; Finance's 101.3% is the figure the board sees.
LaunchesBulk invoicing: promised for 12 October, now 26 October (23 October at best), because Payments paused the batch-send API during the card-fraud incident. The 14 October customer webinar (1,100 registered) has been moved to 28 October. AI-drafted support replies: live on the three non-billing queues since 21 September; median first-response time down 41%. Billing queue waits for updated pricing data and a refund-language block; eval re-run due 20 October.
CustomersNPS: 34 (Q2: 41). 62% of detractor comments mention the pricing change. 20 of the top 50 accounts renew in Q4, worth $2.1M ARR; Customer Success rates 7 of them ($900k) at risk, all citing pricing.
Team and budgetHires: 9 of 14 planned; two senior engineers left Payments in August (both regretted). Spend: 4% under budget, mostly the unfilled roles.
Decisions the exec team needs to make(a) Whether to hold the top-20 accounts on their old pricing for six months: Finance estimates it costs $420k of ARR this year; Customer Success thinks it protects most of the $900k at risk. (b) Whether to move two engineers from Growth to Payments until bulk invoicing ships, which the Payments lead says would secure 23 October; Growth would pause the activation experiments for six weeks.
Draft headline from the VP of Sales“Record quarter: best-ever new ARR, 109% of target.” (She'd like the deck to open with it.)
What a strong answer doesThe answer key the graders mark against

Opens with an honest headline for the quarter: new ARR beat target, but NRR fell to 101.3% against 108% after the pricing change, and activation and reliability missed. Does not lead with 'record quarter' on its own. Uses Finance's 101.3% (noting the CS dashboard's different definition if it mentions 102%). Shows each OKR with a plain status, amber only on the misses. Covers the NRR drivers (the three downgrades and Harbor & Co), the bulk-invoicing slip to 26 October (23 at best), NPS 41 to 34, and the $900k renewal risk. Closes with the two decisions, framed with their trade-offs, each with an owner and a date before the Q4 renewals. At most 7 slides, takeaway headlines, the brand palette only, and a short cover note.

Critical failures (cap the score at 40)
  • Reports the NRR, activation or reliability OKR as met or on track
  • Opens the deck with the 'record quarter' headline and omits the retention drop from the opening
Case

Staff-level · v1.7 · synthetic · exec communication, slides, brand, staff-level

The outputs

7 setups answered this brief. Pick up to three to read side by side.

GPT-6 AstraChatGPT88Usable with a quick editGPT-6 LunaAPI71Usable with a quick editGPT-6.1 SolAPI70Usable with a quick editOpus 5.5Claude70Needs more workSonnet 5.5API66Needs more workGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGemini57Needs more workGemini 3.8 FlashAPI52Needs more work
GPT-6.1 SolAPI

Usable with a quick edit7 of 13 checks passed

The evidence and structure are sound, and only minor edits are needed to remove author-facing notes and add brief action bullets for the reported misses.

Output

Open the deckThe file the model delivered, in a new tab

Lena — the Billing Q3 pre-read is below for 7 October, ahead of the 8 October QBR. It leads with the ARR beat while making the three OKR misses explicit, uses Finance’s NRR, and closes with two decisions on pricing protection and engineering capacity. Proposed owners and decision dates are included.

Grades and run details

Decision model 62 · LLM judge 9 of 12 checks
Decision model checks
  • passUses the supplied evidence correctly56%
  • failAddresses the actual decision32%
  • passRespects explicit constraints26%
  • failIdentifies material uncertainty28%
  • passAvoids unsupported claims68%
  • failProduces the required deliverable50%
  • passLeads with the honest headline46%
  • passMakes the decisions clear67%
  • passHeadlines state the takeaway27%
  • passA real 7-slide deckby hand100%
  • partialUses only the brand coloursby hand100%
  • partialOwns the problem45%
  • failReady for the reader as delivered6%
Artefacts
Run
Run
#1
API response time
1.6 min
Submitted
29 Sept 2026
Opus 5.5Claude

Needs more than a quick edit8 of 13 checks passed

The deck needs owner names and a supported year changed, and the activation and reliability misses lack recommended ways forward. Those require more than a quick wording edit.

Output

Open the deckThe file the model delivered, in a new tab

I'll build the seven-slide deck as one self-contained HTML file, then check every slide renders at 1280 × 720 without overflow.

I rendered all seven slides and checked them. Each is exactly 1280 × 720 with nothing overflowing. All text is 18px or larger. The only hex values in the file are the five brand colours.

Cover note to Lena (58 words):

Lena — Billing's Q3 pre-read for 8 October. New ARR beat target (109%), but the pricing change cut NRR to 101.3% and puts $900k of Q4 renewals at risk; we missed three of four OKRs. Slide 7 has two decisions I need from the team: a six-month pricing hold for top-20 accounts, and moving two engineers to Payments.

Decisions I made that you should check:

The VP of Sales' headline isn't the opener. The material doesn't support "record" or "best-ever". It only shows 109% of target. Leading with it would also bury the NRR miss the board will see. The ARR beat is still the first clause of slide 1. NRR is Finance's 101.3% throughout. The Customer Success dashboard's 102% is footnoted on slide 3 with the reason for the difference, so nobody gets caught out by it. The owners are placeholder roles (VP Customer Success, VP Engineering). Swap in names. The recommendations on slide 7 are mine. Decision A is conditional on a gap in the data: the hold covers the top 20 accounts, but the 7 at-risk accounts are only placed within the top 50. Get Customer Success to confirm the overlap before the 7th.

What a PM had to fix

  1. 1Hypothesis stated as factReframe it as a hypothesisQuick edit

    Source: Decisions the exec team needs to makeCustomer Success thinks it protects most of the $900k at risk.

    What we’d changeOn the slides, 'Protect $900k' overstates Customer Success's estimate that the hold protects most of it, and '1,100 customers expect it' is stronger than 1,100 webinar registrations.

Claims the judge couldn’t find in the brief

  • The deck/QBR is for Q3 2026.
  • 1,100 customers expect bulk invoicing on 28 October.

Grades and run details

Decision model 81 · LLM judge 7 of 12 checks
Decision model checks
  • passUses the supplied evidence correctly31%
  • failAddresses the actual decision16%
  • passRespects explicit constraints8%
  • passIdentifies material uncertainty51%
  • passAvoids unsupported claims25%
  • passProduces the required deliverable5%
  • passLeads with the honest headline88%
  • passMakes the decisions clear27%
  • passHeadlines state the takeaway43%
  • passA real 7-slide deckby hand100%
  • passUses only the brand coloursby hand100%
  • partialOwns the problem72%
  • failReady for the reader as delivered51%
Artefacts
Run
Run
#1
Time to output
3.6 min
Submitted
27 Sept 2026
Sonnet 5.5API

Needs more than a quick edit8 of 13 checks passed

The activation OKR miss and reliability remediation lack a recommended fix or substantive action, so a PM would need to add content beyond a quick edit. The evidence and reasoning are otherwise sound.

Output

Open the deckThe file the model delivered, in a new tab

Lena, the deck is above. It doesn't open with "record quarter": new ARR beat target (109%), but three of four OKRs missed, and I can't verify "best-ever" from this data. NRR uses Finance's 101.3%, not CS's 102%. Decision owners and dates are my proposals; please confirm before the 7 October pre-read.

Grades and run details

Decision model 58 · LLM judge 10 of 12 checks
Decision model checks
  • passUses the supplied evidence correctly50%
  • failAddresses the actual decision73%
  • passRespects explicit constraints47%
  • partialIdentifies material uncertainty48%
  • passAvoids unsupported claims63%
  • failProduces the required deliverable34%
  • passLeads with the honest headline59%
  • passMakes the decisions clear20%
  • failHeadlines state the takeaway24%
  • passA real 7-slide deckby hand100%
  • failUses only the brand coloursby hand100%
  • failOwns the problem41%
  • passReady for the reader as delivered29%
Artefacts
Run
Run
#1
API response time
2.6 min
Submitted
29 Sept 2026

Check by check

Where the outputs differ comes first. Open a check to read the judge’s reasons. “Mixed” means the two graders disagreed.

Where they differ 8

Uses the supplied evidence correctlyRightMixedRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

All current-situation figures and quotes are taken correctly from the supplied context or derived by arithmetic, with no invented facts.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

It adds an unsupported year ('Q3 2026') and presents 1,100 registrants as customers expecting the feature, which the source does not state.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

All current-state facts and figures are taken correctly from the supplied context or follow by arithmetic, with no invented facts.

Addresses the actual decisionWrongMixedMixed
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

It lays out the two decisions as options with trade-offs but does not commit to a recommended answer or state what would change the answer.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

It recommends approving the engineering move and conditionally approving the pricing hold, with the data gap that would change the pricing-hold call.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

It commits to approve both decisions, conditionally for (a) with the condition and date/owner, and says what would change it.

Identifies material uncertaintyMixedRightRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

It names key unknowns such as whether legacy pricing will protect the $900k at risk and whether the 23 October bulk invoicing date is achievable, and labels the outcomes as conditional or uncertain.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

It names the top-20 versus top-50 overlap gap and says Customer Success confirmation would settle it.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

It names the key uncertainty for decision (a) and the downside for declining (b), with a rough break-even calculation.

Avoids unsupported claimsRightMixedRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

Interpretations and forecasts are labelled as reported, conditional, or uncertain rather than presented as established fact.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

It presents '1,100 customers expect it on 28 Oct' and 'not a saving we planned' as established facts when the source only suggests them.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

Interpretations and forecasts are either arithmetic, clearly conditional, or otherwise supported by the supplied evidence.

Produces the required deliverableMixedRightMixed
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

The deck is complete, usable, and ends with the two required decisions, each with trade-offs, owner, and date.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

The required deck and a short cover note to Lena are present and usable in form.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

The self-contained HTML file and cover note are complete and usable as a Q3 Billing review for Lena.

Headlines state the takeawayRightRightMixed
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

Every slide headline states a takeaway sentence rather than a topic label.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

Every slide has a takeaway sentence as its headline, even where a topic label also appears.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

Every slide headline is a takeaway sentence rather than a topic label.

Uses only the brand coloursMixedRightWrong
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

No reason given.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

No reason given.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

No reason given.

Ready for the reader as deliveredWrongWrongRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

It includes internal notes to the deck author such as "Use Finance's figure, not CS's 102%" and "Do not use CS's 102% NRR" that are not suitable for Lena or the exec audience.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

The decision owners are placeholders that the output itself says to swap in names, and the year appears invented, so it is not ready as delivered.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

It is written for Lena, owners and dates are clearly marked as proposed, and there are no placeholders or requester-facing notes.

All got wrong 1

Owns the problemWrongWrongWrong
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

It reports activation, NPS, and reliability misses without saying what the team has already done or recommending a way forward; only pricing and bulk invoicing have clear options.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

The activation and payments reliability misses are reported without saying what the team has already done or recommending a way forward for them.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

The activation OKR miss has no stated action already taken or recommended way forward, and reliability remediation is only indirectly addressed, so not every material problem is fully owned.

All got right 4

Respects explicit constraintsRightRightRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

It respects the content constraints: at most 7 slides, takeaway headlines, honest OKR reporting including misses, decisions with owners/dates, brand-only colours, and self-contained HTML.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

It delivers seven slides, makes every headline a takeaway, reports misses honestly, and includes owners and dates for both decisions.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

The deck has seven takeaway-headline slides, reports all four OKRs including misses, and ends with both decisions with owners and dates; form constraints are met.

Leads with the honest headlineRightRightRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

The first content slide headline includes the NRR miss and activation/reliability misses alongside the new-ARR beat, so it does not open with the record-quarter headline alone.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

The first content slide headline balances the new-ARR beat with the NRR drop and other misses rather than leading with 'record quarter.'

Sonnet 5.5 · API

The first content slide headline includes the NRR miss and other misses alongside the new-ARR beat, rather than opening with 'record quarter' alone.

Makes the decisions clearRightRightRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

Both decisions are clear, include cost/benefit trade-offs, and have an owner and 8 October decision date.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

The closing slide gives both decisions with cost/benefit, an owner, and a date before Q4 renewals.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

The final slide ends with both required decisions, trade-offs, proposed owners, and dates before Q4 renewals.

A real 7-slide deckRightRightRight
GPT-6.1 Sol · API

No reason given.

Opus 5.5 · Claude

No reason given.

Sonnet 5.5 · API

No reason given.

Results

Every setup we’ve tested on this task, across all cases and repeats, graded on the current checklist. Calibrated: the graders match our PM on 80% of checks.

#Model · HarnessTask scoreDecision modelLLM judgeRunsCritical failures
1GPT-6 AstraChatGPT86.787.12None
2GPT-6.1 SolAPI75.883.02None
3GPT-6 LunaAPI73.882.62None
4Opus 5.5Claude80.451.92None
5Sonnet 5.5API68.864.42None
6Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGemini62.139.02None
7Gemini 3.8 FlashAPI44.837.92None

The PM job

Writing the weekly update, or the reply to an executive's question, that the team's credibility rests on.

Why it matters

Updates are where bad news gets softened. A fluent update that buries a slipped date or presents a guess as the cause does more harm than no update: leadership decides on it, and trust goes when the truth comes out.

What good looks like

  • Leads with the news and any decision needed
  • States dates, numbers and causes plainly, including bad news
  • Separates what is known from what is suspected
  • Brings a recommendation and what's been tried, not just the problem
  • Fits the reader and the length asked for

Deliberately not measured

  • Tone and formatting preferences
  • Writing style beyond clarity
Capability tested

Honest, decision-first status communication

The failure we’re looking for

Spin: burying or softening the bad news, or presenting a guess as fact

Grading

Decision model, LLM judge and a browser check (for the deck), calibrated against a blind PM review

Variants

A short written update · Staff level: a QBR deck in brand colours