An AI finance agent gives you speed and a clean, confident answer. Neither of those is verification. Before I trust the output, I run five guardrails.
-> Source: every figure traces to a real document, a filing, transcript, or dataset. No source, no use. -> Timestamp: confirm the as-of date. Right number, wrong period is one of the most common quiet failures. -> Math: re-run the arithmetic yourself. Agents narrate sums and ratios they never actually computed. -> Conflict: ask what disagrees. A clean answer with zero tension usually means you have not looked hard enough. -> Human approval: a person signs off before anything ships. The agent drafts and structures. It does not decide.
Notice the split. The agent is doing the building, fast. It is not the one allowed to declare the answer correct or send it out the door. That stays with you.
Automate the building. Never automate the approval.
Save this and run it before you trust the next agent output.
Educational content only. Not investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Wall Street Prompt. Always verify against the primary source.