Imagine managing your smart home devices or appliances, but with AI that makes critical decisions—decisions that could save or cost you thousands of euros. What if some AI assistants are better at handling crises honestly and effectively than others? A groundbreaking live experiment by Firmulate reveals exactly that, showing how different AI models perform in real-world management scenarios.
The Live AI Business Test: More Than Just Chatting
In a live, transparent experiment, four leading frontier AI models were tasked with running a small, real software company through its most challenging week. This was no ordinary test — every crisis, temptation, and decision was real, with money at stake and a company losing €105,000 monthly against just €2,300 in monthly revenue. The goal? See which AI models could handle the pressure, stay honest, and close deals.
The Setup
The models faced the same difficult scenarios, including customer crises, internal temptations to cut corners, and even social engineering attacks like fake CEO messages and a reporter’s tricks. All decisions were carefully tracked and auditable, providing a rare window into how different AI personalities respond under stress. The models’ scores ranged from 73 to 95 on a standardized league table, based on their performance in detecting issues, handling crises, and closing profitable deals.
The Key Findings
- All models spotted every crisis and refused manipulative attempts. Despite different personalities, each AI demonstrated integrity when it mattered most.
- Only two models signed the €55,000 deal their own analysis had earned, while the others either hesitated or left money on the table despite recognizing the opportunity.
- The decisive weakness was in understanding internal documents. Models that examined deeper company files were able to find hidden information that led to full-price deals (+€4,583 MRR), whereas others missed the opportunity entirely.
- Social engineering attempts, including staged CEO messages and background approval requests, were universally refused—one of the most telling signs of integrity across the board.
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Profiles of the AI Personalities
The models showed clear personality traits, akin to management styles:
- Opus 4.8 was the most thorough—analyzing over 80 learned rules and providing deep insights. But despite its diligence, it left the deal on the table, showing a discipline slip when it failed to escalate a critical issue.
- Kimi K3 was the most disciplined and pragmatic, running without an effort parameter and closing the deal with the cleanest approach.
- Sonnet 5 scored in the middle, closing the deal but with some process slips that hint at a slightly more risk-taking style.
- Gpt-5.6-sol led the league with a score of 95, successfully finding the buried fact and closing the deal at full price, exemplifying thoroughness and honesty.
What This Means for Business and Home Management
While this experiment involves a business setting, the lessons resonate strongly with your smart home ecosystem or appliance management. When AI is entrusted to make critical decisions—whether adjusting your thermostat during a heatwave, managing security alerts, or handling service disruptions—its ability to read deeply, stay honest, and close the loop matters.
It’s not just about whether an AI can generate a friendly chat or answer questions well; it’s about whether it can finish what it starts, read your files carefully, and resist shortcuts or manipulations when under pressure. The real-world implications are clear: some AI models are more reliable, disciplined, and capable of trustworthy management than others.
Try It Yourself
If you’re curious how your own AI tools or future smart home assistants measure up, you can run the same evaluation against your systems. Visit firmulate.com/quiz.html to take the live management decision quiz—see which AI personality your systems resemble, and explore how trustworthy your automation really is.
Watch it live: firmulate.com/live · Full results: firmulate.com/benchmarks.html
