Skill · introduced Week 5
Forecast & Scenario
Builds a simple, explainable forecast from your data and lets you ask 'what if' — without a finance degree or a fragile spreadsheet.
Difficulty: advanced ForecastingScenario / what-if analysisQuantitative planning
Forecasting feels like the scariest power-skill and is one of the most valuable. The trick isn’t fancy maths — it’s making assumptions explicit so the number is trustworthy and adjustable.
What you’ll build
A Skill that takes historical data + your assumptions and returns:
- The base case — the forecast, with the method stated in one line.
- The assumptions — listed plainly, each one changeable.
- Scenarios — best / base / worst, and what drives the gap.
- The sensitivity — which single assumption moves the answer most.
How to build it
- Keep your standing assumptions in
assumptions.md(growth rate, conversion, seasonality). - Decide the data source (file or connector) and the horizon.
- Encode the method and the “show your working” rule in
SKILL.md. Use the code/analysis tools so the maths is real, not vibes.
The SKILL.md
---
name: forecast-scenario
description: Produce an explainable forecast with base/best/worst scenarios and a sensitivity check.
---
When asked to forecast:
1. Read the historical data and the standing assumptions in assumptions.md.
2. State the method in one sentence (e.g. "trailing 3-month run-rate with stated growth").
3. Compute the base case using the analysis tool — show the calculation, don't assert a number.
4. Produce best / base / worst by flexing the key assumptions; show what changed.
5. Report which single assumption the answer is most sensitive to.
6. Flag clearly that this is a model, not a promise; list every assumption the user can adjust.
Watch-outs
- Explainability over precision. A simple model you can defend beats a black box.
- Make assumptions editable in one place — that’s what lets non-analysts own the forecast.
- This is the Skill where Diligence matters most: never present a model as a guarantee.
Become the AI-powered one in your office
Eight weeks. A real project every week. A personal AI assistant that does real work for you — taught live.