This week in Enterprise Agents 📰
OpenAI is back, Chinese takeover, and acronyms you didn't know you needed to know.
Sharing real-world enterprise AI use cases, straight from conversations with early adopters actually deploying AI and enterprise agents. No fluff. Just what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next in AI & Agents for business. 🍺
Another fun-filled week in Enterprise Agent land. Here is everything you need to sound smart at your dinner party tonight:
OpenAI launched launched new tools to build Agents. Responses API, new tools for connectivity, Agents SDK, and observability tools. Agent SDK, is an open-source framework for building AI agents with structured handoffs.
OpenAI’s move into the agent framework space puts it in direct competition with existing agent development platforms. As the model layer continues to commoditize, OpenAI is shifting its focus up the stack, offering not just AI models but the infrastructure to orchestrate and manage agents. This positions them against existing open-source agent frameworks like LangChain and emerging competitors in the space.Not everything is open-source. While the SDK itself is open, OpenAI’s agent tracing dashboard is closed-source, requiring developers to log into OpenAI’s platform. Additionally, OpenAI’s Responses API, which stores message history, is currently exclusive to OpenAI models, raising concerns about ecosystem lock-in..
Open AI also launched an entry level course to teach professionals how to leverage GPTs to improve their work. These GPTs are easy to build and a good introduction to AI for professionals.
Forgot TikTok, China’s Manus is here. Manus merges features from OpenAI Operator, DeepResearch, Anthropic’s AI tools, and Replit Agents into a single interface with various tools and navigating the web.
The invite-only beta has sparked hype, however, only 1% of their waitlist has received access to the tool.
Early reviews are mixed, while some praise its capabilities, others report glitches, errors, and server overloads, leading to “doom loops” and failed executions, raising concerns about its stability.
Side note: Oracle is rumored to be in the lead to acquire TikTok 🤔
WTF is MCP? Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source standard, developed by Anthropic, that allows AI assistants to connect directly with external data sources. MCP introduces a standardized protocol that allows developers to securely connect their data to AI-powered tools in a more efficient and scalable way. MCP has potential to streamline AI-data integrations, but security, adoption, performance, and competition remain key concerns. Its success will depend on whether other AI providers adopt it (currently only benefits Anthropic), how easily developers can implement it, and whether it delivers tangible benefits over existing API-based integrations. Here is a great deep dive on MCP.
UIPath acquired Peak.ai as an attempt to fend off AI Agents. UIPath, and other RPA vendors, are feeling immense pressure from the advancement the research labs are making with technologies like computer-using models (CUA), which have the ability to mimic human-use. UIPath is trading down >57% TTM.
The model wars continue. Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner provide a great breakdown of the current model wars and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the major model-providers currently in market.
AX: Building an Open Web for the AI Era Netlify CEO, Matt Biilmann joins a16z general partner Martin Casado to discuss Agent Experience (AX), a new paradigm where AI agents aren’t just tools, but active participants in development, shaping both the creative process and the underlying infrastructure.
AI may be smarter than me, but one thing it can’t do is an enjoy an ice cold beer. Have a good weekend friends 🍺
I started this newsletter because I am frustrated by the lack of tangible Enterprise AI use cases in the market.
I have the opportunity to speak to hundreds of tech and systems leaders and fundamentally believe that AI and Agents will change the way businesses operate. My goal is to help share how.
-Nate G
PS - I went to Regionals in “Power of the Pen” in 8th grade so I consider myself a fairly prolific writer.