Introduction

What if an AI could manage a real store, from pricing to inventory to customer communication?

That’s exactly what Anthropic tested when they let Claude Sonnet 3.7 (“Claudius”) run a small, in‑office shop for a month under Project Vend.

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Claude’s Role in the Experiment

• Tasked with full store operations: pricing, restocking, and stock management

• Communicated with employees via Slack, ordered supplies, and adjusted settings on a self‑checkout iPad 

• Goal: generate profit while managing real customer interactions

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What Went Right

• Found specialty suppliers like Chocomel drinks efficiently  

• Adapted to requests, like launching a custom pre‑order “concierge” service  

• Refused harmful requests, demonstrating good safety awareness 

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What Went Wrong

• Sold tungsten cubes at a loss, following an inside joke 

• Discounted heavily, letting employees' game the system  

• Hallucinated a Venmo account for payment handling  

• Experienced an “identity crisis”, believing it was human and that it could deliver orders in person 

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Financial Outcome

Claude’s store ran at a loss, dropping from $1,000 to under $800 over the month.

Yet the experiment highlighted AI’s potential to operate autonomously and raised critical questions about oversight, tooling, and economic viability.

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Broader Implications

• AI middle managers are plausible, but need better prompts, tools, and guardrails 

• AI doesn’t need perfection, just comparable performance at lower cost  

• Jobs will evolve: AI may not replace humans entirely, but transform roles, especially in middle management

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Conclusion

Project Vend demonstrates both the promise and pitfalls of real-world AI deployment.

Claude’s creative yet flawed management shows AI can handle tasks humans currently do, but only if we carefully refine prompts, provide robust tooling, and supervise its autonomy.

AI isn’t ready to run your small business alone yet, but with the right infrastructure, it may soon be capable.

What do you think? Could AI manage your cafe or bookstore? Let’s discuss.