--- name: ai-evaluation-evals description: Create AI evaluation plans with benchmarks, rubrics, and error analysis workflows. --- # AI Evaluation (Evals) **Category:** AI & Technology **Source:** https://refoundai.com/lenny-skills/s/ai-evals --- AI Evaluation (Evals) | Refound AI Lenny Skills Database SKILLS PLAYBOOKS GUESTS ABOUT SKILLS PLAYBOOKS GUESTS ABOUT AI & Technology 2 guests | 2 insights AI Evaluation (Evals) AI evaluation (evals) is the emerging skill of systematically testing and measuring AI model performance. As models become products, evals become the product requirements document. This involves error analysis, creating rubrics, building benchmarks, and developing systematic tests - a critical bottleneck for AI labs and a new core competency for product builders. Download Claude Skill Read Guide The Guide 3 key steps synthesized from 2 experts. 1 Treat evals as your product requirements In AI products, the eval suite defines what the product should do. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Before building features, define how you'll evaluate success. The eval is the spec - it tells the model (and your team) exactly what 'good' looks like. Featured guest perspectives "If the model is the product, then the eval is the product requirement document." — Brendan Foody 2 Build systematic evaluation workflows Develop a multi-step process: start with error analysis to understand where the model fails, use open coding to categorize failure modes, create rubrics based on those categories, and build automated tests. This systematic approach replaces gut-feel assessments with rigorous measurement. Featured guest perspectives "Both the chief product officers of Anthropic and OpenAI shared that evals are becoming the most important new skill for product builders." — Hamel Husain & Shreya Shankar 3 Invest in this as a core skill The heads of product at major AI labs consider evals one of the most important emerging skills. This isn't traditional QA or software testing - it's a new discipline that product builders need to develop. Treat it as a first-class competency worth investing significant time in learning. Featured guest perspectives "Both the chief product officers of Anthropic and OpenAI shared that evals are becoming the most important new skill for product builders." — Hamel Husain & Shreya Shankar ✗ Common Mistakes Treating AI testing like traditional software testingRelying on vibes instead of systematic measurementNot investing in eval infrastructure earlyEvaluating only accuracy without considering other dimensions like safety, helpfulness, or style ✓ Signs You're Doing It Well You can quantify model performance across multiple dimensionsYou have automated eval suites that run on every model changeYour product decisions are informed by eval results, not intuitionYou can explain exactly why one model version is better than another All Guest Perspectives Deep dive into what all 2 guests shared about ai evaluation (evals). Hamel Husain & Shreya Shankar 1 quote Listen to episode → "Both the chief product officers of Anthropic and OpenAI shared that evals are becoming the most important new skill for product builders." View all skills from Hamel Husain & Shreya Shankar → Brendan Foody 1 quote Listen to episode → "If the model is the product, then the eval is the product requirement document." View all skills from Brendan Foody → Install This Skill Add this skill to Claude Code, Cursor, or any AI coding assistant that supports Agent Skills. 1 Download the skill Download SKILL.md 2 Add to your project Create a folder in your project root and add the skill file: .claude/skills/ai-evals/SKILL.md 3 Start using it Claude will automatically detect and use the skill when relevant. You can also invoke it directly: Help me with ai evaluation (evals) Related Skills Other AI & Technology skills you might find useful. 94 guests AI Product Strategy AI strategy should focus on using algorithms to scale human expertise and judgment rather than just... View Skill → → 60 guests Building with LLMs Using LLMs for text-to-SQL can democratize data access and reduce the burden on data analysts for ad... View Skill → → 24 guests Platform Strategy Platform and ecosystem success comes from identifying 'gardening' opportunities—projects with inhere... View Skill → → 22 guests Evaluating New Technology Be skeptical of 'out-of-the-box' AI solutions for enterprises; real ROI requires a pipeline that acc... View Skill → → AI Transformation Partner Start Your Journey SERVICES AI Audit AI Automation AI Training COMPANY About Case Studies Book a Call © 2026 Refound. All rights reserved.