Compounding Failure

Definition. The property that errors in a multi-step agent chain propagate and amplify downstream, unlike traditional software whose failures are typically non-compounding. A small early misjudgment (wrong account read) cascades into wrong research, wrong draft, wrong send. The structural reason human-in-the-loop checkpoints and guardrails are non-negotiable.

@misc{shalvi_gtm_compounding_failure,
  author = {Singh, Shalvi},
  title  = {Compounding Failure — GTM World Model Glossary},
  year   = {2026},
  url     = {https://shalvisingh.com/gtm/glossary/compounding-failure}
}