Swarm Can Now Seat A Panel — Not Just Split The Work

September 9, 2026

Ask for a roundtable, a focus group, or "what would each of these people say," and Swarm no longer flattens that into one worker's summary or a two-sided debate. It seats 2 to 5 named personas, a moderator runs the room, and you get where each position landed — plus the contested points — in the Swarm plan before anything spends.

What you can do

• Run a moderated panel as a Swarm step. A panel is a discussion, not a task split. Two to five named people hold genuinely different positions. The moderator (a strong reasoning model) opens the floor, decides who speaks, presses the aspects that matter, and closes when the room stops producing new information. Every participant gives a closing statement; the moderator writes the verdict.
• See it in the plan before you unleash. Panel steps carry a sky panel · 4 badge (count of seats; · deep or · quick when you are not on the default). Hover the badge to read each persona's name and stance. Nothing starts spending until you approve the plan, same as any other Swarm turn.
• Pick a depth. Quick is 2 rounds with no tools — a fast read on positions. Standard (the default) is up to 4 rounds with tools. Deep is up to 6 rounds, for a core position or a high-stakes call. The moderator can close early.
• Ground personas in real public figures. Name an analyst, executive, regulator, or commentator with a public record. Swarm researches their published notes and track record first, then seats them as that person. They argue from that record; they do not invent quotes. Disclosure that named people were simulated lives once in the deliverable, not in every speaking turn. Private individuals are out of scope.
• Keep debate for a different job. Debate is still there: advocate, critic, and a judge stress-testing whether the evidence is sound. Use it when the question is binary or "are these findings solid?" Use a panel when there are more than two legitimate positions — forecast paths, buyer/seller/regulator, founder/investor/customer, a case conference, a focus group. You can run a panel and then a debate on its output when you need both exploration and a verified call.
• Ask in plain language. "Get me a panel on…", "war-room this", "red team / blue team", "how would a CFO, a customer, and a regulator each see this", "what would [named public figure] say." Switch to Swarm yourself, or let the agent offer it — a panel only runs as a Swarm step.

A standard four-person panel is roughly 15–20 model calls. Swarm will not stack multiple panels in one plan unless you ask (for example, one focus group per segment).

Ready-made panel jobs live in the playbooks: investment theses use the Hedge Funds prompts, plus case conferences, consumer focus groups, policy simulations, and philosophy seminars. Mechanics are on the Swarm page.

Where this shows up

• You need more than long versus short. "Which forecast path for [TICKER] through FY27 is most likely?" You used to get a bull case, a bear case, and a judge. Now you get a room arguing management's guide, the beat-and-raise case, the back-half-loaded case, and the at-risk case — with weights and dated tells.
• You want the people in the room, not a blended memo. "War-room the EU market-entry call: enter now, wait, partner, or walk." Four stances, one moderator, one verdict you can take to the board.
• You asked what a named analyst would say. Swarm pulls their notes and rating history first, then seats them. The sceptic across the table has no coverage to defend.

Try it

• "Run this in Swarm. Seat a panel on whether we should enter the EU market in 2027: enter now, wait, partner, or walk. I want where each position landed and what would change the call."
• "Get me a panel on [TICKER] through FY[N]: which forecast path is most likely. Ground named sell-side coverage in their notes, and seat a buy-side sceptic."
• "Focus group this pricing change with three customer segments. I want objections, purchase triggers, and the language they actually use."
• "What would [named public commentator] say about this bill, next to industry, a regulator, and a consumer advocate."

Heads up

• A panel is Swarm-only. Writing all the voices in one Agent turn is not a substitute. If you are on Agent, Alfrada will offer to switch; nothing starts until you approve.
• Parallel spend. A standard four-person panel is roughly 15–20 model calls on top of the research steps that feed it. Quick is cheaper (no tools, two rounds). Deep is the expensive read.
• Real-person seats need a public record. The persona is a simulation of published views, not an interview. Swarm will not seat a private individual.
• Debate is still the binary tool. "Long vs short", "bull vs bear", "from both sides" still runs the advocate/critic/judge loop. A panel is for when the call is not a coin flip.