Why Most People Will Build Their Own AI Coworkers in 2025
My takeaways from Dharmesh Shah's talk at INBOUND 2024 • The Signal
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Hey y’all!
My mind has been racing since I listened to Dharmesh Shah’s (Co-founder of HubSpot) talk about AI Agents at Inbound last week.
So, I’m publishing a second post this week — at no extra charge!
(Jk, I know you’re not paying; I’ll never charge readers, I think information should be free. Plus, this is the PLG way for media 😉)
It’s inspiring to see people like Dharmesh excited about this new wave of tech: GenAI. Crypto felt like this, to a lesser degree. But this one feels like the real thing.
Since I missed Web1 and Web2, it’s fun to finally be “on a wave” as it’s hitting.
Seeing the founders of Intercom come back (because of GenAI), David Sacks getting back into the operator seat (with his Slack competitor, Glue), and many others talking about this being the biggest thing in tech of the last decade gives me confidence that I’m not crazy for the gut-feeling I’ve felt since I used ChatGPT 3.5 for the first time. This technology shift is a big deal.
And now, all of the smartest people I know in the space are talking about AI Agents.
So, this is a topic that I’ve wanted to do a dedicated piece around to help force me to learn about it and clarify my thinking on the subject.
Clear writing = clear thinking.
Plus, as I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I love about writing is that it naturally leads me down tons of different rabbit holes that I wouldn’t have otherwise gone down.
Today’s post is my takeaways from Dharmesh’s talk: The Future of AI Agents.
You can listen to the full thing on YouTube here (I highly recommend you do):
Let’s get into it.
Why Most People Will Build Their Own AI Coworkers in 2025
Dharmesh’s main point is that the future work environment will be one where AI agents aren't just tools, but digital coworkers. And he claims: that isn’t some distant future—Dharmesh predicts it’ll happen this year!
Why Now?
This year marks a significant milestone in the evolution of artificial intelligence. AI agents are no longer a futuristic concept; they are here, and they're transforming how businesses operate.
But, why now? (I constantly come back to Mike Maples Jr’s framework of the four types of inflection points → Technology, Regulatory, Societal, and Adoption).
Dharmesh summarizes AI’s technological inflection point across a few vectors:
AI Models Are Growing Exponentially
AI models are doubling in power every six months, far outpacing Moore's Law for traditional computing. (How long will this last? I don’t know. But this is bonkers.)
Specialization Across Models
We now have models that excel at different tasks. GPT for reasoning, Claude for writing, Gemini for massive context. Together, they create a dynamic ecosystem.
Multimodel
Models are no longer just text-based. They’re becoming multimodal, gaining the ability to process images, audio, and video as inputs. (This is a big deal.)
Demystifying AI Agents
So, what are AI agents, and why is everyone talking about them?
Dharmesh shares the following definition:
An AI agent is software that uses AI and tools to accomplish a goal that requires multiple steps.
-Yamini Rangan (CEO, HubSpot)
Again, let’s review the core characteristics of AI Agents:
They use AI models: "Without AI, it’s just automation.
They can use tools: Agents can interact with CRMs, databases, or even other agents (we’ll come back to this one in a bit).
They have memory: Agents can remember information across different tasks, providing a continuous, evolving level of assistance.
Agents in Action
Dharmesh announced Agent.ai → “The #1 AI Agent Marketplace in the World".” (Dharmesh always follows that up with saying “The only AI Agent Marketplace in the World” which is funny).
One example he shared was a “Company Research Agent” that he had personally built. It saves hours of browsing by having an agent summarize key company data—from founders to recent news—all in one click. Sounds super helpful for GTM folks, right?
Agent.ai is a wild concept. It’s like LinkedIn, but for AI Agents (digital coworkers). And you can hire them on the spot. For a single task. Or to help you on an ongoing basis.
I always wished there was a “github for RevOps.” Where GTM people could share their work in public (eg: the logic/workflows they build). And even take these workflows with them, from one company to their next. However, with the current tools, this “logic” lives within the tool and the company owns the IP. But, with this new paradigm, maybe this changes. It’s super interesting to me! I think it’s the future. And I’m not alone. Over 46,000 people have signed up for agent.ai already.
I’m personally starting to play around with it and hoping to build some AI Agents to launch in the marketplace.
Building Your Own Agents
This new wave of tech is particularly exciting to me as a non-technnical person, because you don’t have to be a developer to build an AI agent. With “Agent Builder,” anyone can create customized agents with just a few clicks. It’s as simple as building workflows in a marketing automation product.
Why does this matter? Because the future of teams is hybrid. Imagine a world where agents and humans collaborate seamlessly. Agents will handle repetitive tasks, freeing up human teammates to focus on creative, strategic, and emotional aspects—the areas where we, as humans, shine the brightest.
In this new world, you can use agents as building blocks for other agents.
Imagine building AI Agents that use other AI Agents. Yeah, there are some serious levels to where this is going. /giphy Inception meme: “Deeper”
HubSpot’s vision is to draw inspiration from Apple's "There's an app for that," with their mantra being: "There's an agent for that." Fascinating!
The Future of AI and Human Collaboration
It's natural to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety about integrating AI agents into our teams. Concerns about AI replacing human roles are common, but let's put those fears to rest. (I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it one hundred times again: People won’t be replaced by AI. But, people using AI will replace people not using AI).
If we treat AI agents merely as “tools,” we'll get tools. But if we see them as future digital teammates, we unlock true transformation.
AI amplifies human potential (it doesn’t replace it). AI agents can handle the mundane, allowing you to focus on what truly matters.
Let AI agents automate the mundane and amplify the magic.
By embracing AI agents as digital teammates, we unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation. They’re here to handle the routine, so we can focus on what makes us, uniquely, human.
The future isn't about AI taking over; it's about AI and humans working side by side to create something extraordinary. The rise of AI agents is not just a technological advancement—it's the beginning of a new era of collaboration.
Hope you enjoyed this post. As always, your attention is greatly appreciated.
See you next time,
Brendan
🫡