How would you set up an evaluation framework from scratch for a new LLM application?
'Eval is the new system design' for LLM apps, and starting with zero data is the real test. What shows depth is bootstrapping a golden set, choosing task-specific metrics, and running evals continuously as a regression gate.
Updated Sep 2026 · Grounded in real GenAI, LLM, and AI/ML engineering interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.
'Eval is the new system design' for LLM apps, and starting with zero data is the real test. What shows depth is bootstrapping a golden set, choosing task-specific metrics, and running evals continuously as a regression gate.
Lead with where the obvious approach breaks, because that is the judgment they are screening for — most candidates jump straight to the happy path and lose the room.
Then walk the failure back through the pipeline in order, naming the one metric the customer's exec sponsor actually cares about before you propose the fix.