The short answer
Evals make quality explicit. When they are connected to real user outcomes, they become a product feedback loop that helps teams ship faster without losing trust.
Teams often talk about evals as if they are a test suite added after the product is built. In practice, they are a way to define the product.
Every product encodes tradeoffs between speed, completeness, cost, and safety. Evals make those tradeoffs visible.
The strongest evals are close to the moments users care about. They turn anecdotes into a shared language for improvement.
A useful note, once a week
Make room for better signal.
About the author
Jon covers the research-to-product gap, with a focus on evaluation and trustworthy systems.
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One thoughtful note on AI, agents, and AGI. No noise.
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