Microsoft Turned Database Grading Into RL Rewards—And It Worked
Microsoft's ThinkingBox converted database correctness checks into RL rewards, tripling repeatable success for agent tasks—but sharpening came at a cost.
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Microsoft's ThinkingBox converted database correctness checks into RL rewards, tripling repeatable success for agent tasks—but sharpening came at a cost.
Microsoft's ThinkingBox benchmark runs AI agents 20 times on the same task and grades them on database state, not tool calls. The gap between 'can do it once' and 'does it every time' is huge.
Most benchmarks report average accuracy. IBM Research found the metric that matters more: can your agent succeed five times in a row? Spoiler—probably not. Here's why, and how to fix it.