I am having an absolute blast with Skills. If you aren’t a Claude user, think of these as extended prompts that you can save. I’m sure the other frontier models have something similar. Once all of our systems were connected to CoWork, I needed Skills that persist so I don’t need to start from scratch each time I ask a question.
Some of my internal facing “Skills”:
We even have a “Skill Creator” skill so whenever a teammate creates a Skill, it follows certain protocols.
But the client facing possibilities are even more exciting.
Software is valuable because it turns unstructured data into structured data (inputs). But each customer wants the outputs to be slightly different. You can’t have it both ways.
Structuring the data means there are output constraints. That’s the tradeoff - you can build from scratch and do whatever you want or build a repeatable system that won’t capture every possible scenario.
This is where AI Skills are so exciting. As long as the underlying data is structured, the outputs are completely customizable. For example, our rates strategy team builds custom deal analysis for clients. Static PDF that needs to be updated weekly as the deal progresses towards closing.
Now our clients can access a Deal Analysis page that is real time all the time. No need to ask for updated cap prices or swap rates. What big eco events might move rates before closing? Where does the ISDA stand? Analysis is customized to each client and each project. (before you email me, no I didn’t make these samples “live”).
And if you want to tweak the output, it’s as simple as changing the Skill. It’s so stupid easy even I can do it.
That is the magic. The possibilities to customize are infinite.
Check out our Cap Optimizer. (Desktop = best user experience for Cap Optimizer) We run this analysis all the time, but now you guys can change strikes, maturity, and even stress rates. We provide the framework, you turn the dials, then we collaborate.
We even made an interactive forward curve that you can adjust period by period. The outputs updates instantly. WHAT THE ?!?!?!?! Seriously, go click on that link and try it yourself.
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We help brokers run analysis across term sheets all the time. In a couple of hours, we built a fully automated Term Sheet Analyzer. We can ingest PDF term sheets, map them to the appropriate fields, and then line them up like a traditional matrix. Want to rearrange things? No problem. Update the Skill. |
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Running the math is instant. We never have to update rates again. Every time a broker visits this, all rates, vols, projections are real time. |
Skills also have tremendous value to LoanBoss. We have hundreds of millions of rows of structured data but don’t want to build custom outputs for every unique customer request because that’s not practical…and now we don’t have to. Just build a Skill!
Here’s our landing page right now. The chat interaction is mostly a glorified search bar…for now.
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But soon most interactions will exist on this page. Guess what we’re modeling it after? Claude CoWork. For example, we have a Deal Score Skill in LoanBoss that evaluates a deal on 20 parameters. We originally built it to help with lead gen for brokers - traditional software stuff. We dropped the parameters into Claude and said, “Turn this into a Skill.” |
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You get the Deal Score Skill from the LoanBoss Skill Store™ and you instantly have the ability to evaluate every single deal in your portfolio. |
And because it’s just a Skill instead of actual engineering code, you can tweak the parameters without us needing to change the code. And your parameters can be different than someone else’s parameters.
Is anyone else losing their mind over the potential here?!?!?! Every Pensford Skill will also be imbedded into LoanBoss without having to write millions of lines of code. This is epic.
This is our Financials page with live DSCR/DY. Unadjusted and adjusted. Live interest rates. Amort schedule. Accounting integrations. However hard you think it might be to build that, multiply by 10,000x. It’s like me thinking I can build an office tower. And the adjusted DSCR/DY was the most complex thing we’ve ever built - every lender adjustment ever across 7k+ loans. Fully automated.
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Now imagine overlaying a Skill that helps you see around corners…”which deals have the tightest DSCR over the next year?” |
Our users will have the ability to custom build software to do whatever they need. Outsource the mundane/painful part and build the awesome stuff via customizable Skills.
And it works perfectly because what’s Core to us is Context to you. And you’ll do this with other vendors. What’s Core to you is Context to someone else. An ecosystem of comparative advantage.
Core - if we do it poorly and lose
Context - if we do it well and no one notices
Pensford/LoanBoss/others will have the foundational data, the tried and true OG math models, and the necessary security.
You just bring the imagination.
Everything that makes you so good at your job, your secret sauce, will be at your fingertips overnight if you get your various systems to coordinate so you can tap into your unique skillset. You can custom build your own technology almost instantly.