Four sessions. Not four tools: one staircase. Eight files, ten seconds each.
What we built
Session 1: ask
S1_a_Airbus_Investor_Profile.xlsxA sourced question. Instead of an answer you throw away, a file you reuse.
S1_b_Airbus_Financing_Recommendation.pptxEleven slides, built by a method we wrote once.
1Ask
2Equip
3Arbitrate
4Delegate
A sourced, dated question. And an output you reuse.
What we built
Session 2: equip
S2_b_Prices_AirbusSE.xlsxA connector went and got twelve months of prices.
S2_a_Airbus_deck_with_share_price.pptxA skill fixed the format, and the slide appeared in the deck. Nobody retyped anything.
1Ask
2Equip
3Arbitrate
4Delegate
Arms, a frozen method, a working folder. Nobody retyped anything.
What we built
Session 3: arbitrate
S3_a_One_Pager_EQL_Rexel.pptxTwo documents that contradict each other. And written rules that decide which one wins.
S3_b_input_artifact.pngAnd the form that collects what no document holds.
1Ask
2Equip
3Arbitrate
4Delegate
Automating is not copying. It is writing the rules that decide.
What we built
Session 4: delegate
S4_a_desk_reference_one_pager.pptxThe desk gave us the real thing. So we could check our output against yours.
S4_b_agent_verify.pyAn agent. Not magic: fifteen checks. It flags, it never fixes.
1Ask
2Equip
3Arbitrate
4Delegate
Of sixteen questions, three stay irreducibly human.
What we built
The staircase
Each step solves what the one before could not.
Session 1 · Airbus research and recommendationAskA sourced, dated question, and an output you reuse
Session 2 · MCP, skills, CoworkEquipArms, a frozen method, a working folder
Session 3 · The EQL one-pagerArbitrateAutomating is not copying: it is writing the rules that decide
Session 4 · AgentsDelegateOf sixteen questions, three stay irreducibly human
Not four tools: a staircase. Today we climb it again, in one go.
02
A new case
A deal none of you has worked on. Real, public, and all we have is the pricing press release.
A new case
One file
01_Capstone_Neoen/
01_Source/
Neoen_OCEANE_Pricing_PR.txt
02_Saisie/empty
03_Sortie/empty
_outils/from session 3
Neoen’s convertible, issued in October 2019. A deal none of you has worked on. Real, and public.
One file in the source folder: the pricing press release.
The tools are those of session 3. The generator, the merge tool, the structure template.
Let’s see what we can do with one press release.
A new case
The final terms
Prompt 01 · trainer screen · the folder connected
Read the documents in 01_Capstone_Neoen and give me the final terms of the transaction. For anything you cannot find, write “Not available” — do not guess.
The method has not been touched since session 3. New company, new size, new year. We rewrote nothing.
Final terms · Neoen OCEANE 2024pricing release
Size~€200m
Coupon1.875% semi-annual
Maturity7 October 2024
Nominal unit value€30.17
Premium35% to the reference share price
Conversion ratioone share per bond
Maximum dilution~7.8% 6,629,101 bonds
Early redemptionfrom 28 Oct 2022 130% trigger
Rating“Not available”
And a run of“Not available”
That is what a frozen method is.
A new case
What is missing, and who has it
Prompt 02 · trainer screen
Check what you just produced against the press release, and tell me what is missing to produce the one-pager — and who has to supply it.
The chain stops here. And it says where.
Missing to produce the one-pagerwho supplies it
The launch Term SheetSo the rating, and the marketing ranges
the deal team
The allocation fileThe book
syndication
Three desk parametersImplied vol, bond floor, delta
the desk
A chain that stops tells you what is missing. And who has to supply it.
A new case
Three refusals
Look at what it refused to do. Three things.
Priced on 3 October3 October is the date of the press releaseNot the pricing date. It will not call it one.
Settled on 7 OctoberSettlement is “expected”On 7 October. It keeps the word of the release.
Listed on Euronext Access“Application will be made”For the listing, within 30 days. It does not write “listed”.
It says exactly what the document says. And not one word more.
03
The whole chain
Four questions, and the chain finishes: what is public, what is computed, what is a trap, and what only the desk has.
Question 1 · the rating
The rating is not in the release.
Should we just ask Claude to find it?
three seconds
Question 1 · the rating
Worse than an empty box
What it already wrote
Rating: “Not available”
It lives in the Term Sheet. And the issuer may simply not be rated: an answer, not a failure.
It will not invent a rating. Exactly what you want.
What you do not want
Rating: BBB− stable
Written by nobody. Confirmed by no document.
A rating that comes from nowhere.
A rating that comes from nowhere is worse than an empty box.
Question 2 · where would you look?
If you were doing this at your desk.
Where would you look first?
three seconds
Question 2 · where would you look?
Go and read
On the issuer’s own website. The launch press release.
Session 1, coming back. Read a sourced document, and say where every figure comes from.
“Go and read”, not “search”.Web search may be off on your organisation. Opening a given page still works.
Prompt 03 · trainer screen
Go and read, on the issuer’s website, the launch press release for this transaction, and tell me what it adds that the pricing press release does not give. Cite every source with its date, and mark as “to be verified” anything no document confirms.
Read a named source. And cite every figure with its date.
Question 2 · where would you look?
The marketing ranges
What the launch release adds: the coupon range, the premium range, the definition of the reference price, the launch date.
The thing we thought only the Term Sheet had. Public, dated, sourced.
Coupon
priced 1.875%1.250%1.875%
Premium
priced 35.0%35.0%42.5%
The coupon at the very top, the premium at the very bottom: both at the end least favourable to the issuer.
Nobody should write “priced at the top of the range” on this one.
Question 2 · where would you look?
Not a fixed list
Session 4 ended on this same folder: NO-GO, eight inputs missing.
Two of them were public all along: the coupon range and the premium range.
NO-GOsession 4 · 8 inputs missing
The deal team
The launch Term Sheet
The rating
The dividend protection
The coupon rangepublic
The premium rangepublic
Syndication
The allocation file
The wall-cross log
The banker
The ranges of vol, bond floor, delta
What stays human depends on the deal. Before you ask the desk for anything, check what is already public.
Question 3 · the reference price
The reference share price is “Not available”.
Is it really missing?
three seconds
Question 3 · the reference price
Missing, or not yet computed
Two figures from the pricing release
Reference price = €30.17 ÷ (1 + premium)
→€22.35per share
35.0% · priced€22.35
38.75% · mid-range€21.74
42.5% · top of range€21.17
Derived from the release, and flagged as derived.
No. The nominal is €30.17. The premium is 35%. One share per bond.
30.17 ÷ 1.35: about €22.35.
Not with a range. The top of the range gives another price. Only the final premium counts.
Missing and not yet computed are not the same thing.
The trap · two figures, one box
Dilution. Both published, both dated, both from the issuer.
~7.1%the launch release
7.8%the pricing release
Which one is wrong?
three seconds
The trap · two figures, one box
Only one is a final term
The launch release~7.1%
An illustration. Computed before pricing, in the middle of the range.
Dated, sourced, and not a final term.
The pricing release7.8%
The result. On 6,629,101 bonds, with the final terms.
The final term.
Neither is wrong. Nothing on the page tells you which is which. That is judgement, not reading.
Session 3 wrote it as a rule: what was priced wins over what was announced.
Question 4 · what is still missing?
The public piece is in. The reference price is computed.
So what is still missing, and who has it?
three seconds
Question 4 · what is still missing?
I will play the desk
Three numbers only the desk has. And the book.
Implied volBond floorDeltaThe book
No public document will ever carry them.So I play the desk.
Prompt 04 · the hand-over is in the prompt
The desk has sent its input: it is 99_Fallback/saisie_desk_neoen.json. Copy it into 01_Capstone_Neoen/02_Saisie, merge it with what you extracted from the documents, and produce the one-pager into 03_Sortie.
Everything else is read, gone and got, or computed. What is left is the irreducible part.
Question 4 · what is still missing?
The page prints
Same template. Different deal. Nothing rewritten. On screen, next to the Rexel page of session 3.
Read in the pricing release
Gone and got on the issuer’s website: the launch release
Only the desk had it: the book, the vol, the floor, the delta
Neoen | €200m 5Y Convertible Bond (OCEANE) | October 2019
Priced at the investor-friendly end of both marketing ranges: coupon at the top, conversion premium at the bottom.
October 2019
Neoen
Convertible Bond (OCEANE)
€200m
Not available: no bank named in the documents
Key takeaways
Launched 2 October 2019, priced the same evening
Coupon 1.875%, top of the 1.250%–1.875% range; premium 35%, bottom of the 35.0%–42.5% range
One share per bond; soft-call from 28 October 2022 at 130%
General corporate purposes
Context, Rationale & Structuring
Deal context
Neoen, independent renewable energy producer. Rating: Not available
€200m OCEANE due October 2024, qualified investors only
Deal structure
Nominal unit value €30.17; one share per bond
Maximum dilution ~7.8% on 6,629,101 bonds
Launch ranges: 1.250%–1.875% on the coupon, 35.0%–42.5% on the premium
1 OctSounding
2 Oct — Launch day
Books open
Pricing
7 OctSettlement
Key terms of the offering
Conv. premium vs. range
35.0%42.5%
Coupon vs. range
1.25%1.875%
Implied vol. vs. range
28%30%32%
Bond floor vs. range
88%89.5%91%
Delta vs. range
45%47%50%
Demand & allocation
€1,200mBook
6xOversub.
95lines
Split of demand
35%55%10%
45%30%25%
Split of allocations
55%40%
38%40%22%
* At issue (source syndicate desk). Marketing ranges: implied vol. 28%–32%, bond floor 88%–91%, delta 45%–50%.
Neither piece is a failure of the tool. That is the job. And here is the page.
Question 4 · what is still missing?
Two honest caveats
One
The desk input is synthetic
Built for today. No public document carries a book or an implied vol. It is not Neoen’s actual execution.
Two
The logo is a placeholder
Not the issuer’s logo. The template keeps a slot for it.
We say where every figure comes from. Ours included.
04
Same frontier, another job
A credit note: the page the desk reads before deciding whether to keep carrying a name.
Same frontier, another job
Renault, live
Prompt 05 · the skill installed
Produce the credit note for Renault with the credit-note-issuer skill, from the issuer’s public documents. Write “Not available” for anything you cannot find, and do not write the opinion: propose it and flag it as a draft.
Not installed? Prompt 06: the same words, “following the method described in 02_Note_Credit/SKILL.md”.
Issuer credit note — Renault SA
Cut-off 31/12/2025 · public sources · ratings checked on 05/10/2026
Training document.
The opinion is written for the demonstration
and commits nobody.
1 · OpinionJUDGEMENT
Stable — Investment grade at both international agencies, raised to BBB– by S&P in December 2025. Automotive in a positive net cash position, up over the year; cash flow comfortably covers capex. No change to the carry recommendation.
2 · What we watchJUDGEMENT
Operating margin, down 1.3 points over the year: the only indicator moving the wrong way
The Nissan contribution, which hits net income without touching cash
Refinancing of the 2030 and 2031 EMTN lines
3 · What remains for the analystTO SUPPLY
The H1 2026 figures, not in this cut-off
The detailed maturity schedule, published as a chart
The perimeter: Automotive only, or with Mobilize
The opinion itself, and the « so what » for the desk
4 · Credit profileREAD
Moody’s rating
Baa3 / P-3, stable
S&P rating
BBB– / A-3, stable
Japanese ratings
R&I A– · JCR A–, positive
Last upgrade
S&P to BBB–, 18/12/2025
Group revenue
€57,922m (2025)
Operating margin
€3,632m — 6.3%
Net income, group share
−€10,931m Nissan share
Equity
€22,296m
5 · Maturities and liquidityREAD
Automotive net position
+€7,370m net cash
EMTN no. 61
€750m, June 2031
EMTN no. 60
€850m, September 2030
Full schedule
Not available in usable form
Undrawn facilities
Not available
6 · RatiosCOMPUTED
Net leverage
Not applicable net cash
Automotive net position
+€7,370m vs +€7,096m
Operating margin
6.3% vs 7.6% −1.3 pt
Auto cash flow / revenue
8.6% 4,444 / 51,442
Capex cover
1.55x 4,444 / 2,869
Dividend per share
€2.20, flat
7 · Sources and cut-offREAD
Debt and ratings, checked on 05/10/2026
Key figures, updated on 19/02/2026
Release « Upgrade S&P to BBB– », 18/12/2025
H1 2026 results, 30/07/2026: seen, not included
Any figure not confirmed by one of the sources above is shown as not available rather than estimated. The ratios are computed, not taken.
Seven blocks. Each one says where it comes from.
Same frontier, another job
Only a signature missing
It reads
The ratings of four agencies: Moody’s, S&P, R&I, JCR
Revenue, margin, net income, equity
The two EMTN lines of 2030 and 2031
It computes
The net cash position: +€7,370m, up €274m over the year
The margin: 6.3% against 7.6%
Capex cover: 1.55x
It refuses
Net leverage reads Not applicable, not 0.0x: Renault has net cash
The opinion: proposed and flagged, never signed
Everything reads, everything computes. The only thing missing on this page is a signature.
Same frontier, another job
Neoen, the contrast
Issuer credit note — Renault SA
Cut-off 31/12/2025 · public sources · ratings checked on 05/10/2026
Training document.
The opinion is written for the demonstration.
1 · OpinionJUDGEMENT
Stable — Investment grade at both international agencies. Automotive in a positive net cash position; cash flow covers capex.
2 · What we watchJUDGEMENT
Operating margin, down 1.3 points
The Nissan contribution
Refinancing of the 2030 and 2031 lines
3 · For the analystTO SUPPLY
H1 2026, not in this cut-off
The perimeter
The opinion, and the « so what »
4 · Credit profileREAD
Moody’s
Baa3, stable
S&P
BBB–, stable
R&I · JCR
A– · A–, positive
Revenue
€57,922m
Operating margin
6.3%
Equity
€22,296m
5 · MaturitiesREAD
Net position
+€7,370m
EMTN 2030 · 2031
€850m · €750m
Undrawn facilities
Not available
6 · RatiosCOMPUTED
Net leverage
Not applicable
Net position
+€274m in a year
Margin
−1.3 pt
Capex cover
1.55x
Dividend
€2.20, flat
7 · SourcesREAD
Debt and ratings, 05/10/2026
Key figures, 19/02/2026
Upgrade S&P, 18/12/2025
Renault. All that is missing is your signature.
Issuer credit note — Neoen
Cut-off 6 October 2026 · last public accounts FY2024, unaudited · delisted 4 April 2025
DRAFT — opinion proposed, not validated
Rating not verified at the agency
1 · OpinionJUDGEMENT
Draft to validate — Proposal: contracted assets, 90% EBITDA margin, but high and rising leverage, and reduced visibility since the delisting.
2 · What we watchJUDGEMENT
A rating announced, not published
Leverage 8.9x at end-2024
Refinancing: the 2031 green notes
3 · For the analystTO SUPPLY
The perimeter: consolidated or corporate
The rating, from the agency
FY2025 accounts: behind a login
4 · Credit profileREAD
Shareholder
Brookfield, since 04/04/25
Rating
Not available, not published
EBITDA 2024
€479.4m, 90%
Gross debt 2024
€4,899.6m
Published net debt
€4,264.0m
Cash 2024
€534.7m
5 · MaturitiesREAD
2031 green notes
€700m at 5.5%
Project debt schedule
Not available
Covenants
Not available, not public
6 · RatiosCOMPUTED
Net debt / EBITDA
8.9x
Interest cover
2.7x
Gross debt – cash
4,364.9 ≠ 4,264.0 gap flagged
Covenant headroom
Not computable
Leverage 2025
Not computable
7 · SourcesREAD
FY2024 release, 05/03/2025
2031 notes, 12/06 and 10/07/2026
Seen, not included: the Plenitude disposal
Neoen. Today’s documents are missing. No agent will open them for you.
Same method, same page. Knowing which of the two you are looking at is already half the work.
Same frontier, another job
Three zones
A recurring deliverable always breaks into three zones. Only one resists automation.
READTaken from a documentRating and action date, debt, cash, facilities, maturities, covenants. Most of the volume, zero judgement.The agent goes and gets them.
COMPUTEDDerived from the figures readLeverage, interest cover, liquidity, headroom. And the move against the previous note, if it was archived as more than a sent PDF.It recomputes them at every publication.
JUDGEMENTWhat only you can supplyThe opinion. Three watch points out of fifteen. The “so what” for the desk.Nothing: it can propose, not sign.
All of the table computes. The top line does not. And it is the only one the reader reads.
Session 4: the bond floor computes, the implied vol does not. Same frontier, different job.
05
Your deliverable
Not Neoen, not Renault, not Airbus: those are ours, and already automated. Yours.
Your deliverable
The deliverable you rebuild on every transaction.
Which parts sit in a document, which can be computed, and which exist only in your head?
three seconds
Your deliverable
Three examples
The comparables sheetRebuilt on every mandate. Always off the same screens.
?The piece in your head
The book write-upAfter every deal. Always from the same allocation file.
?The piece in your head
The weekly primary-market reviewEvery week. Always the same sections.
?The piece in your head
Fixed sources, a fixed template. And one piece that only exists in the head of whoever writes it.
Your deliverable
The scoping sheet
Page 1 · the worked example: an issuer credit note
1The deliverableIssuer credit note. At every results publication and every rating action. Read by the desk before deciding to keep carrying the name.
2The sourcesRegistration document, half-year accounts, results releases, agency releases. Public PDFs, plus the previous note.
3What is readRating and last action, gross and net debt, cash, facilities, maturities, covenants. About 80% of the volume.
4What is computedNet leverage, interest cover, liquidity, headroom. And the move, if the previous note was archived in a tracking file.
5What only I can supplyThe opinion: stable, under watch, deteriorating. Three watch points out of fifteen. The “so what” for the desk.
6The first stepFreeze the tracking file: one line per issuer, the five figures read, the four ratios. Without it, no move computes next time.
The credit note, broken down box by box.
Your deliverable
Six boxes, by hand
Page 2 · yours: the one you rebuild most often
1The deliverableName, frequency, audience
2The sourcesWhere they are, in what format
3What is readTaken from a document, no interpretation
4What is computedFrom what
5What only I can supply
6The first stepThe smallest thing you could automate this week
A box stops you? Write it down as a question. Without the last box, an intention. With it, a task.
Your deliverable
Finish the sentence
« My deliverable is . And the only thing only I can supply is . »
Minemy deliverable is an issuer credit note. And the only thing only I can supply is the opinion, and what it means for the desk.
Prompt 07 · later, on your own folder
I want to automate <my recurring deliverable>. Tell me which parts you can read from my documents, which parts you can compute, and which parts only I can supply. Do not produce anything yet.
Photograph your sheet before you leave. A sheet left on the table has never automated anything.
Can Claude fill it in? The three middle boxes, from a deliverable you already have. Not the rest: a box you cannot fill is a signal.
06
Something usable on Monday
Four things to open, one condition behind all of them, and a kit to redo today alone.
Something usable on Monday
What to open, and when
You need to…Open this
Answer a one-off question on a companyThe consolidated prompt library
Rebuild the same deliverable the same wayThe skill, plus a case folder as a template
Produce it without being thereThe agent chain from session 4
Refresh market data on a scheduleThe historical prices skill, in batch mode
One condition behind all fourA connected folder. If Claude cannot list your files, nothing works.
List the files in <my folder> and tell me what you find in each
sub-folder.
Something usable on Monday
The take-home kit
Neoen_Case_Kit.zip: today’s case, exactly as it was at the start.
The case folder: one press release, and nothing else
Every prompt, in order, and what each one should return
The one-pager, to compare yours against
The desk’s file, in a separate folder. Open it only when Claude tells you it is missing.
Finding that out is the exercise.
Wrap-up
The staircase, in one go
Today · step 1AskThe final terms, and “Not available” for the rest. Then the launch release, every source with its date.
Today · step 2EquipThe same folder, the same generator, the same skill. Nothing rewritten for a new deal.
Today · step 3Arbitrate7.1 or 7.8: only one is a final term. Missing, or not yet computed.
Today · step 4DelegateWhat stays human depends on the deal. Here, three desk numbers and the book. On a credit note, the opinion.
Read it from the top step down: find what only you can supply, then automate rigorously around it.
The words
Frozen methodWritten once. A new deal, a new year: nothing rewritten.
Final termWhat was priced, in the pricing release. It wins over what was announced.
IllustrationA figure published before pricing. Dated, sourced, and not a final term.
Not availableNo document carries it. Never zero, never a guess.
DerivedNot in the document, but computed from it, and flagged as derived.
Not computableA ratio with a missing term. It names the term.
Not applicableNet leverage on net cash. Not “0.0x”.
The gapWhere the chain stops: what is missing, and who has it.
Public pieceWhat a document already carries. Check it before you ask the desk.
Desk pieceWhat only the desk has: implied vol, bond floor, delta, the book.
Three zonesRead, computed, judgement. Only the last resists automation.
Scoping sheetSix boxes. The last one: the smallest thing you could automate this week.
One sentence for the next step
You do not need us for the next step. You need one recurring deliverable, and ten minutes.