Answers only from data.
Why my factory agents never guess, and how they say "not clear".
A plant manager does not need a clever answer. They need a true one.
When I built BottleCo, I set one rule before anything else: every answer comes from the data, or it does not come at all.
Three things make it work.
Code does the math. Claude writes the words. Every number comes from a query, not from the model. The model only explains what the numbers already say.
Every number is checked. A second calculation runs before the answer is shown. If the two do not match, the answer is held back.
“Not clear” is a valid answer. When the evidence is thin, the agent says so. It shows what it checked and what is missing.
Show the work.
Each answer carries the data queried, the raw rows and the trend. Anyone on the shift can check it in a few seconds.
This makes the agent less impressive in a demo. It also makes it usable on a real line. On the floor, trust is the product. The model is one part of it.