#3: Introducing GRIT agents

The vast majority of agents today aren't actual agents b/c they don't have real agency or decision making over what they do. Rather, they operate as glorified AI-powered personal assistants that require detailed input to respond to.

Coding 'agents' are a good example. Replit, Cursor and Windsurf are fantastic at code gen given prompts from an engineer, but they aren't deciding what to build or how to design it. Why is this? By and large (Cognition's Devin is the exception not the rule), their models aren't sophisticated enough or possess the ability to be customized at the edge beyond the prompt window. Knowing what to do and actually doing it in a way that is contextual to the situation are two very different things. While coding was a very natural place to start building agents given how naturally LLMs and token prediction fit with code generation, it's incredibly difficult to be an functional coding agent at a company. One needs to manage interpersonal relationships with other humans (including non-technical folks like product/UX), assess various tradeoffs in technical design, understand the long-term vision of the org, etc. There's a ton of nuance involved that is continually shape-shifting.

I believe a more functional (and likely to be successful) way to launch agents are in industries that are:

1. Labor intensive with minimal nuance (repetitive, well-defined, "back office" tasks)

2. Face-off to actual customers such that the agents have autonomy over decision-making

3. Don't require high degree of precision (mistakes aren't desired but are acceptable)

4. Aren't tech-forward (the agent should be able to 10X an existing process in a way that delights, not replace a colleague that saddens).

GRIT (Generalized Routine IRL Tasks) agents will be far more immediately successful operating as actual agents in industries such as:

• Healthcare Admin

• Real Estate (brokers + support staff)

• Government (admin, grants, congressional aides)

• Insurance Claims/Support

• Education (admin)

• Legal

• Consulting

GRIT agents need to be pitched not as cost reducers, but as revenue drivers. Just like banks think about their back office as a way to make the front office more successful, GRIT agents will allow existing staff to spend their time more efficiently on creating more business. Im seeing more GRIT agents come to market such as Trapeze Health, who is managing voice scheduling for healthcare providers (disclosure: I’m a small angel investor), and am super excited for this next wave of actual agents!