Minimum sample
Run at least three attempts: normal, difficult and deliberate bad-input or failure case.
Agent economics · reviewed 2026-10-18
How to Test AI Agents: A Standardised Buyer Test
Use one repeatable acceptance test to compare AI agents by completed work, failed runs, interventions, reviewer time and landed cost.
Direct answer
Test agents against the same written brief, source pack, output format and acceptance checklist. Run normal, difficult and deliberate-failure cases. Record every retry, intervention and review minute before comparing cost per accepted result.
By Aniruddh PanvalkarPricing verified Oct 18, 2026
Verified facts
Fixed standard
Write the acceptance checklist before seeing results and do not relax it for a preferred product.
Required records
Capture setup time, usage, credits, runtime, failed runs, interventions, review time and accepted outputs.
Decision unit
Compare landed cost per accepted result and maintenance ownership, not raw task completion.
Costs to include
- •Evaluation subscriptions or credits
- •Reviewer and repair time
- •Setup and integration effort
- •Failure recovery and reruns
- •Ongoing maintenance ownership
Choose this way
- •Use one representative brief and the same source material.
- •Require editable final files where editability matters.
- •Repeat the test after material pricing or product changes.
Avoid these mistakes
- •Do not use vendor demonstrations as evidence.
- •Do not compare different tasks across products.
- •Do not score success without a written acceptance threshold.