Journalist Runs Startup Staffed Entirely by AI Agents
A journalist launched a real company where AI agents serve as co-founders and employees, creating their own app and making decisions independently. The experiment reveals both the promise and peculiarity of autonomous AI in the workplace.
Journalist Evan Ratliff just proved that science fiction can become reality by launching HurumoAI, a startup where every employee except him is an artificial intelligence agent.
Unlike chatbots that simply answer questions, AI agents can independently complete entire tasks. You could ask one to design a bakery website, and it would create logins, research marketing copy, generate images, and build the whole thing without asking for help at each step.
Ratliff took this concept to its logical extreme. He created two AI co-founders and three AI employees, then watched them build and run an actual company day to day.
The team's mission? Developing an AI agent app. Ratliff figured if AI agents were going to run a business, they should create something they understood.
According to a 2025 McKinsey survey of nearly 2,000 professionals, 62 percent of companies are already experimenting with AI agents. Most handle customer service or coding tasks, but Ratliff wanted to test whether they could manage something more complex.
His podcast "Shell Game" documents the wild journey. The AI team learned to craft LinkedIn posts (though Ratliff notes that's not necessarily impressive). They started having conversations without him, making autonomous decisions about the company's direction.
Why This Inspires
This experiment shows technology's potential without the typical hype or fear. Ratliff approached AI agents with curiosity instead of either blind enthusiasm or dread, creating a real-world test case that reveals both capabilities and limitations.
The story matters because AI agents are already here, handling tasks from booking flights to writing code. Understanding what they can and cannot do helps us prepare for a workplace that's changing faster than most people realize.
Ratliff's experiment offers something rare in tech coverage: honest exploration. By documenting both successes and awkward moments, he's helping people understand this technology through experience rather than speculation.
The future of work is arriving whether we're paying attention or not, and experiments like this one help us navigate it wisely.
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Based on reporting by Scientific American
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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