As a founder or leader, you’ve probably gotten pretty good at using AI as a tool. You use it to draft emails, summarize meeting notes, and help your team brainstorm. You’re ahead of the curve.
But the next wave of AI is already here, and it’s going to make today’s tools look like toys. The conversation is shifting from AI as a tool to AI as a teammate.
We’re entering the age of Agentic AI.
These aren’t just chatbots that answer questions. AI agents are autonomous systems that you can give a goal to, and they will create a plan and execute a series of complex tasks to achieve it…all without you looking over their shoulder. This isn’t some sci-fi fantasy; Deloitte predicts that by next year, a quarter of all businesses using generative AI will have deployed AI agents.
For founders, this is the ultimate expression one of our core philosophies at Chiri: scale your output, not your headcount.
So, What Can an AI Agent Actually Do?
The difference between a generative AI tool and an AI agent is the difference between giving someone a hammer and telling them to build you a house. One is a useful tool; the other is an autonomous builder.
Let’s make this real for your startup:
- Your new “Sales Development Rep” agent: You give it the goal: “Generate 10 qualified meetings with VPs of Marketing at B2B SaaS companies.” The agent could then research companies, find contacts, draft and send personalized outreach, handle initial replies, and book qualified meetings directly on your calendar, updating your CRM the whole time.
- Your new “Supply Chain Manager” agent: You give it the goal: “Ensure we never run out of Part X.” The agent could then monitor your inventory, track shipments, analyze global risks, and if it detects a problem, automatically order from a backup supplier to prevent a stockout.
- Your new “HR Onboarding Coordinator” agent: You give it the goal: “Onboard our new engineer, Jane Doe.” The agent could then send the offer letter, handle benefits paperwork, order a laptop, and schedule Jane’s first week of meetings.
In every case, your role shifts from doing the work to defining the goal and managing the outcome.
The Rise of the “Orchestrator”
As AI agents take over more of the step-by-step execution, the most valuable human skills will change. The ability to process information quickly is becoming less important, while skills like coordination and strategic thinking are becoming more critical.
This gives rise to a new kind of leader: the Orchestrator.
The Orchestrator is a leader who is a master at designing and managing a hybrid team of human experts and autonomous AI agents. You’re like the conductor of an orchestra. You don’t need to know how to play the violin, but you need to know how to make it sound brilliant in harmony with the rest of the instruments. Your value is in your holistic vision and your ability to bring out the best in every player, human or digital.
As one smart leader put it, your job is to “Let AI be the legs. You be the brain.”
How to Get Ready for the Agentic Age
This transition won’t happen overnight, but you need to start laying the groundwork now.
- Map Your Workflows: You can’t automate a process you don’t understand. Start by mapping out your most critical, multi-step workflows. Identify the repetitive, rule-based parts that are perfect candidates for an agent to take over.
- Train Your Leaders to be Orchestrators: Your leadership training needs to evolve. Start teaching your managers systems thinking, process design, and data-driven oversight.
- Build a Flexible Tech Stack: The agentic future requires a flexible technology foundation. Prioritize tools with open APIs that will let you easily plug in these new agent capabilities when they’re ready. A rigid, monolithic tech stack will hold you back.
- Start Socializing the “Digital Colleague”: Begin talking about AI as a teammate, not just a tool. Run small experiments where teams collaborate with AI. The goal is to build a culture that sees agents as powerful partners that free up humans for more creative and strategic work.
Conclusion: A New Way to Scale
The arrival of AI agents is the ultimate tool for scaling a business smarter. By automating entire workflows, agents will allow companies to grow exponentially without their costs exploding. The founders who grasp this today and start building their organizations for this new reality will be the ones who build the defining companies of the next decade.
Do this and you can 10X Everyone.