Incredibly bullish on AI tools for creators, contractors, and small businesses. People who are time-constrained can hugely benefit from AI agents who take over admin (and other) work. They often can't afford to hire humans to do these tasks - AI is the first "help" they get.

The early adopters of many AI tools - from assistants like @TownAI to video agents - are folks like real estate agents, contractors, and SMB owners. An hour of time saved daily boosts quality of life. Fun to chat w/@ollieforsyth on this + other topics:

Have you been spying me?

😂

So am I but I am also bullish on @sama theory the one man unicorn why AI lets you do alot now Grok for this Hedra for that etc

most of the doctors i work with do the clinic's admin themselves between patients. they were never going to hire someone for it. that has given us the chance to build a solution for them :)

i built an AI agent for athlete and yesterday it got its first brand ambassador contract for the athlete autonomously from A-Z ive spent 10+ years managing athletes and it just blew my mind

does a16z have request for startups in these areas like YC does? I'm interested in this space as well.

I may try to write something up! But this space moves so fast that I tend to tweet vs. blog post now :)

Tweets work too. Looking forward to it! I’ve followed you for a while and am building in the space too. As a YouTube creator, I’ve seen the challenges firsthand. I’d love your take on where creators and small businesses struggle. I’d also love to setup a chat with you for 30 minutes if you’re open to it.

100% we see this irl on @contra

still waiting for AI to handle sleep 😂

This matches what I see in insurance. Most agencies are small businesses too, and the admin between them and the client (portal rekeying, applications, proposals) was never something they could hire their way out of. AI agents are the first help that actually shows up for that work.

Speaking for the creative community. We don't want your parasite ghoul asses

These tools are still in their early stages, offering only slightly more capabilities than ChatGPT. The significant advancement will occur when they can independently access a private workspace with their own email, phone number, and digital wallet. Exciting space!!

I use AI for an utilisation which is quite particular. It's a way to stimulate my brain with very particular research. I always wanted to know for example where was this wonderful shrimp place I went to in Eastern Virginia back in 2005, now I know!

For simple tasks like e-mail management or writing simple messages, it's really good. Let you concentrate on more difficult things.

Loved chatting!!

The real promise of AI isn't efficiency—it's giving time back to the people who need it most so they can focus on what truly matters.

the first hire that never forgets

This tracks, and there's real data behind it too, upwork found 62% of small business leaders are very confident handing agents high stakes work, but confidence got ahead of the actual infrastructure to support it

is helps SMEs to create virtual employees team and gel with human team on legacy email communication.

AI as the first help for small businesses is the right framing. Practical over flashy.

everyone frames AI as replacing your team. for most of the world it's the team they were never able to hire.

This is the underrated market honestly. A contractor doesn't care about model benchmarks, they care that invoicing and scheduling stop eating their evenings. AI as the first hire they can't afford yet is a great framing.

AI agents will unlock access to tools many people couldn’t afford before. Trust and transparency will be key as adoption grows.

Exactly. The wedge isn’t “replace an employee”; it’s giving a one-person business its first researcher, operator and reviewer. The hard product problem is keeping each role scoped and making approval simpler than doing the work yourself.

Been running my back office on AI agents for months. Scheduling, follow-ups, invoicing. Stuff that would've needed a VA. Different game now.

they probably won't buy an 'agent platform' though. they'll buy 'chase this invoice' or 'turn this voice note into a quote.' boring verbs, very real budgets.

AI is great at clearing the small stuff (like inbox triage, scheduling, reporting, expense cleanup and the follow-ups nobody wants to do) But the calls that actually move a business? Judgment, taste, hard conversations, trust. Still human.

Facts, were seeing this in live time and there is high demand.

🎯 this is very true. I have been trying to help people and businesses with simple tech and AI advice. I am shocked how many had issues that a simple ai agent can easily solve, but they really don't like "AI". For now I dicided to build a product that will let sellers and creators embed a sales agent on their site, doing the job and associate would but on their online store. Basically replacing a product search bar and keeping inventory and product details updated and synced. Do you work with founders and small businesses?

"The first help they get" is the right framing. For a solo contractor, AI isn't replacing anyone. It's the first assistant they were ever going to have.

or it could be that I am not the biggest fan of useless bloat never undertsood why you need 50 meetings for something that usally takes 1 hour with AI but again that is just my take or maybe I am leaning to much on the Musk side either way facts

Sovereign Future is Here!