Published: 2026-05-21
Stop Prompting, Start Questioning: The Senior Partner Method for AI Agents
Nate B Jones argues that prompt engineering is now table stakes — frontier models like Opus 4.7 and GPT-5.5 are roughly 100x more capable for agentic work than models from six months ago, yet most people still interact with them like junior assistants. His "AI Question Method" reframes the interaction: instead of specifying each task, you convey your perspective and thesis, then ask questions that open up the problem scope and invite the agent to bring its full capability to bear as a senior partner.
Source video
"You're Not Bad at Prompting. You're Bad at Defining the Work." by Nate B Jones — Watch on YouTube →
Key Takeaways
- Prompt engineering is now table stakes — you don't get credit for it. The next skill layer is learning to work with AI as a senior partner, not a task executor.
- Frontier models (Opus 4.7, GPT-5.5) are roughly 100x more capable for agentic work than models from six to eight months ago — our prompting habits haven't kept pace.
- The AI Question Method: frame your interaction as a series of questions that define scope and invite exploration, rather than a task list that constrains the agent.
- Always convey your perspective and thesis — vague requests produce generic output even with powerful models. Give the agent your angle before asking it to investigate.
- This approach applies to heavy knowledge work in Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and CodeEx. Defined agentic pipelines (invoices, tickets) are a separate category and don't need it.
- Since frontier models now have persistent memory, you can tell them to adapt to question-based interaction and they will carry that preference forward.