AI Agents in Startups
AI agents and the founders building companies with them: what happened, and what it means for founders, student founders, and the people who back them.
Patterns for founders
- Agent Job Description
A founder writes each staff agent a one-page job description: whom it serves, what it does, and what needs the founder's yes. - The DeskA small team checks on its agents by reading one report a day, not by watching each agent.
- Exact Text, Then YesNothing goes to a customer or an investor in a founder's name until the founder approves the exact words.
- On-rampsEach request finds the process that handles it; a request with none shows the next process to write.
- The Master List WinsOne master list for each kind of data, so every agent and every cofounder works from the same facts.
AI agents in startups, explained
What does “AI agent” mean?
Software that uses an AI model to decide its own steps and use tools to finish a task for someone. More on AI agent
What does “Agentic organization” mean?
An organization where people and AI agents work together: agents do the legwork, people make every decision, and systems enforce the limits. More on Agentic organization
What does “Principal” mean?
The person an agent works for, who gives it its work and answers for what it does. More on Principal
What does “Multi-agent system” mean?
Several AI agents dividing a job, with one agent often coordinating the others. More on Multi-agent system
What does “Tool use” mean?
Tool use is when an AI agent goes beyond the conversation to do something, like searching the web, sending an email, or changing a file. More on Tool use
What does “AI workflow” mean?
Steps fixed in advance by a person, some of which call an AI model. More on AI workflow
Our research
The Agentic Startup: How a Student Founder Builds a Company with a Chief of Staff and Staff Agents
Our research note on how a student founder builds a company with a Chief of Staff and staff agents, to be tested through the Global Student Startup Competition. Planned.
This is not legal, financial, or investment advice.
Events in Startups
A large general tech conference whose speakers include founders of AI agent companies such as Manus AI, though its official page does not list a track just for agents.A large technology and startup conference in Doha; its official page names AI leaders among past speakers, but the 2027 program is not yet published.A scientific meeting at the University of São Paulo's Centro de Difusão Internacional that brings Latin American AI researchers and students together with leading scientists from around the world, with travel grants for selected attendees and a startup track on April 7–8.A two-day summit at Singapore Expo on how organizations adopt generative AI and AI agents, covering governance, teams of agents working together, and a showcase for startups.Web Summit's Latin American technology and startup conference at Riocentro; the 2027 AI program is not yet published.From the Foundation
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