Outcome vs. Process: Evaluating Multi-Step Agents
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Judging only an agent's final answer misses most of what can go wrong. An agent plans, calls tools, and reasons across steps — and can reach a good answer by luck through a broken process that fails on the next input. Evaluate the trajectory, not just the destination: outcome evaluation (was the result right?) and process evaluation (were the steps sound?) together. The trajectory is what makes an agent an agent A single model call has one output to judge. An agent has a trajectory — it plans,…
1Key Takeaways
- Judging only an agent's final answer misses most of what can go wrong.
- An agent plans, calls tools, and reasons across steps — and can reach a good answer by luck through a broken process that fails on the next input.
- Evaluate the trajectory, not just the destination: outcome evaluation (was the result right?) and process evaluation (were the steps sound?) together.
- The trajectory is what makes an agent an agent A single model call has one output to judge.
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3Why it matters
Coding AI shifts how fast software ships and how much human review each change needs. DEV — AI reports that judging only an agent's final answer misses most of what can go wrong.
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