🌊 AI Agent-to-Agent
The AI consumer revolution, how AI agents are changing the Enterprise, AI Agents dominating YC W25 batch, Anthropic’s AI job market impact and notes on AI replacing your job.
👋 Hello! I’m Ivan. I share curated insights for founders on what matters most in tech, startups and venture capital.
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Summary
🌊 Agent-to-Agent
🌊 How are AI agents changing the Enterprise?
🌊 AI Agents dominate YC W25 batch
🌊 Anthropic’s AI job market impact
🌊 Will AI replace your job
🌊 The most important founder trait
🌊 10 universal laws of fundraising
🌊 Insightful Reads
💵 Bonus - Iberian Deals
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🌊 Agent-to-Agent: The AI Consumer Revolution
I recently tried to renew my driving license in Spain.
It should’ve been simple.
Instead, it turned into a 3-month saga featuring the Spanish e-government.
In parallel, I embarked on multiple journeys dealing with:
Vodafone’s useless customer support loop
Iberdrola’s Kafkaesque bureaucracy
An allergist’s front-office stuck in the 90s
Etc, etc…
We've all been there. Hours wasted, patience tested, and at the end, you still don’t know if you’ve solved your problem. The common denominator? Slow, inefficient systems mixed with a cocktail of bad human service and even worse bots.
But AI Agents are going to flip the script.
Right now, enterprises are integrating AI Agents internally (see next section)—B2B automation, customer support, efficiency tools etc.
The next wave? AI Agents for consumers.
Imagine your personal AI, infused with your digital identity, navigating these bureaucratic hellscapes for you. It logs in, handles requests, fights through enterprise AI roadblocks, and—here’s the kicker—forces them to work with it because they’ll have no choice.
Compute costs will push businesses to clean up their processes, or they’ll hemorrhage resources.
The real turning point? When it’s Agent vs. Agent.
Instead of you battling Vodafone’s “Sorry, I didn’t get that” chatbot, your AI will negotiate on your behalf. It’ll call, email, submit documents, and persist in ways no human ever could.
The balance of power will shift. We, the consumers, finally get leverage.
The progression:
1️⃣ 1990s: Human-to-Human
2️⃣ 2000s-2020: Human-to-Websites + Human
3️⃣ 2020-2025: Human-to-(bad) Bots
4️⃣ 2025-2035: Agent-to-Agent, game on.
Investments so far?
All focused on B2B AI Agents—the first step. But the real consumer revolution is coming when personal AI Agents get their own seat at the table.
Joke’s on you, Vodafone.
🌊 Enterprise AI Agents
My notes on a great interview by Y Combinator ft Aaron Levie, who's worth a follow with a lot of super insightful tweets on AI lately:
🌊 AI Agents dominate YC W25 batch
Ran a quick analysis on Y Combinator’s latest batch, here are my findings:
🌊 Anthropic’s AI job market impact
Anthropic ($61B) just dropped data on AI & jobs. Economic impact - tl:dr:
𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁:
Software dev (37%) → Coding, debugging, workflows
Writing & content (10%) → Editing, copywriting.
Business & finance (5.9%) → Research, analysis.
Physical labor jobs = Almost untouched.
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝘀. 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
57% of AI use is augmentation— iterate, validate, learn
43% is automation—fully executing tasks like formatting, summarizing, debugging.
Only 4% of jobs use AI for 75%+ of tasks—full automation is rare (for now.)
𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝘁𝗼-𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀:
Tech & knowledge workers seeing the biggest impact
Low-wage + very high-wage jobs see less adoption.
AI is an efficiency boost—not a mass job killer (yet).
𝗠𝘆 𝟮 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:
I've had multiple conversations with tech industry executives with a common thread: emphasising the importance of dedicating time each week to experiment with emerging AI tooling.
Its probably a good idea to branch out from your comfort zone and perform little experiments on how to augment or automate parts of your job.
🌊 Will AI replace your job
I found this gold nugget from Shaan Puri, worth a read:
🌊 Long-term mentality
Naval talks about how difficult it is to predict which startups will work (1 in 10 of his angel investments succeed)—and highlights 1 common trend across his winners:
Long-term mentality.
🌊 10 universal laws of fundraising:
𝗪𝗶-𝗙𝗶 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 – The worse the Wi-Fi, the more important the meeting.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹 – The probability of rescheduling a call increases exponentially after the first reschedule.
𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗵𝘆’𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘄 – The biggest error in your pitch deck reveals itself five minutes before presenting.
𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 – The odds of a “quick chat” turning into an hour-long debate rise with the number of attendees.
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 – The likelihood of sending an email to the wrong recipient increases with its potential for disaster. (via Marek Fodor)
𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗲 – The more recipients on an email, the higher the chance you’ll forget the attachment. (via Cesar @digitalnexen on twitter)
𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 – The closer you get to pitching, the higher the probability of questioning your entire business.
𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 – The more certain a founder is about their valuation, the less convinced investors seem to be.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 – The faster an investor replies, the higher the likelihood they’ll invest.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿” 𝗣𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗻 – The likelihood of a new investor showing interest increases dramatically after you’ve already committed to a lead.
🐇 Follow the white rabbit 🕳️
My favourite reads this month:
𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗚𝗜 𝘃𝘀. 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 – Satya Nadella argues AI’s real impact is driving 10% economic growth, not just reaching AGI: https://lnkd.in/d5Nw-9km
𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘀 – Lamar shares an incredible demo of an AI agent collaborating with another AI to build an app: https://lnkd.in/dqUnu27u
𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰’𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 – Evan breaks down how Anthropic is counter-positioning with a more human, warmer AI to stand out from OpenAI, xAI, and Google: https://lnkd.in/dFAE_Uir
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 –
dives into monetization strategies for foundation models in an open-source AI world: https://lnkd.in/ddT2bADz𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀 –
explores inference tricks, RL, fine-tuning, and distillation to improve reasoning efficiency in LLMs: https://lnkd.in/dTDDQqT2𝗔𝗜 𝗥&𝗗 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜 – Tibor Blaho shared how OpenAI runs sprints with 1,200 researchers: https://lnkd.in/dsmYXFyv
𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 & 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 –
shares his Q4 Hyperscaler report and 3 great posts on OpenAI: https://lnkd.in/d_CPm5pF𝗔𝗜-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 by
– Comparing v0, Bolt, and Lovable for design. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dgDynx5Y𝗥𝗣𝗔 → 𝗔𝗣𝗔 by Anna Piñol – AI shifts from process automation to agentic workflows. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dw557Ter
𝗩𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 = 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 by Y Combinator – YC on AI-first software development. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d6p5vPmw
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 by Jon Turow– AI agents are becoming a core layer. 🔗 https://substack.com/home/post/p-158119217
💵 Iberian Deals
You love startups and want to enjoy a Spanish lifestyle?
Come join the Spanish startup ecosystem.
Here’s a list of recently funded startups:
TravelPerk (business travel) raised $200M
MytripleA (finance) raised €30M
Quibim (medical imaging) raised $50M
Exoticca (travel) raised €25M
LIBEEN Smart Housing raised €25M
Mundimoto (marketplace) raised €21.1M
UniversalDx (medtech) raised €20M
iPRONICS (photonic computing) raised €20M
SENSIA (infrared technology) raised €19M
BeGas (bioautogas engines) raised €18M
PropHero (real estate) raised €16M
Flanks (fintech) raised €14M
Cafler (vehicle management) raised €10.5M
Imperia SCM (SaaS) raised €10M
Wooptix (semiconductors) raised €10M
#Openchip (semiconductors) raised €10M
Nido (heat pump) raised €5M
Eranovum (EV charging) raised €6M
Frekuent (fintech) raised €6M
Dealcar (fintech, Saas) raised €3M
RepScan (reputation management) raised €3M
LoopOS (circular economy) raised €3M
THEKER Robotics (AI-powered robotics) raised €3M
Zymvol Biomodeling (biotech) raised €3M
Kanguro (last-mile logistics) raised €2M
KOA (aquaculture solutions) raised €2M
Nester (proptech) raised €1.5M
FisioReact (healthcare) raised €1M
Breakevent (€876K, analytics)
Mygocu (€463K, travel)
Secrets Vault (€400K, cybersecurity)
Caleida (€500K, marketing)
VanCubic (€500K, modular vans)
Devera (€650K, climate tech)
Clotsy Brand (€330K, sustainable fashion)
Tirecat Health (€170K, automotive tech)
🍫 Meme-ology
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoy Startup Riders, I’d really appreciate a share - see you next month! 🤙
I write write a newsletter for founders and invest in startups. Previously, I built products at Facebook, helped scale Bloomreach ($2B+), and bootstrapped Revenue Squared. I also love surfing and BJJ.
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Good summaries:)
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