🎙️ Episode Snapshot

In this forward-thinking conversation with Matt Biilmann, CEO of Netlify, Deepak explores the revolutionary concept of "Agent Experience" (AX) and its implications for software development. Matt outlines how AI agents are becoming primary users of software platforms, necessitating a fundamental rethinking of design principles. From the staggering 10,000+ sites being deployed daily via AI agents on Netlify to the emerging standards needed for agent-ready applications, this conversation provides a blueprint for how tomorrow's digital experiences will be shaped by the collaboration between humans, agents, and software.

Topics Discussed

• The concept of Agent Experience (AX) as the next frontier beyond UX and DX
• How software developers can make their applications "agent-ready"
• Authentication flows and visibility considerations for agent interactions
• The importance of open standards versus closed agent ecosystems
• The explosion of web development through AI-powered tools
• The future balance between human and agent interactions with applications
• Practical challenges in creating seamless agent experiences
• The need for industry collaboration on agent experience standards

Key Quotes + Ideas

"The agent will experience frictions or no friction. It will have an easier time figuring out and not figuring it out... People will pick products, platforms, they'll pick tools that are better for their agent to work with than tools that are hard for the agent to work with."

Matt introduces the concept that goes beyond simply adding AI features to products. He argues that as agents become intermediaries between humans and software, the quality of an agent's experience will become a critical differentiator. This represents a paradigm shift in how we evaluate products - not just by how they work for us directly, but by how easily our AI assistants can navigate them on our behalf. Companies that optimize for agent experience will gain competitive advantage in a world where agents increasingly mediate our interactions with technology.

"We're still in the very early stages... where the first pieces we're kind of really lacking is open standards for helping agents use our software."

Matt highlights the crucial infrastructure gap in the emerging agent ecosystem. While we have nascent tools like LLMs.txt and custom context files, the industry lacks standardized methods for agents to interact with software. This creates an opportunity for collaborative innovation, as companies work to define best practices for agent authentication, access, and interaction patterns. Much like how HTML standards enabled the growth of the modern web, new agent interaction protocols will be essential for this ecosystem to flourish beyond its current experimental state.

"We are starting to see about 10,000 new sites a day created from AI agents. And it's only increasing."

This staggering metric from Netlify illustrates the real-world impact of agent-driven development. The sheer volume of AI-generated websites being deployed demonstrates that this isn't just theoretical - agents are already reshaping how digital products are created. This acceleration suggests we're at the beginning of a massive democratization of web development, where the barriers to creating online experiences will continue to drop dramatically. As Matt notes, "This is the worst these agent tools will ever be" - they'll only improve from here.

Key Takeaways

1. Agent Experience (AX) is emerging as a crucial design consideration: Companies must now optimize not just for how humans interact with their products, but how AI agents can effectively use them on our behalf.
2. Authentication and visibility are first-priority challenges: The most immediate needs for agent-ready applications include streamlined authentication flows and clear visibility into what actions agents take.
3. Open standards will create a more powerful ecosystem: Rather than each company building siloed agent capabilities, open standards for agent interaction will create a more versatile and user-empowered environment.
4. The web development landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift: With the cost of building websites plummeting through agent assistance, we'll see an explosion in the number of custom web applications and a new generation of developers working primarily through agents.
5. Humans will still drive shared experiences: Despite increasing agent activity, Matt emphasizes that humans fundamentally desire shared experiences, meaning applications will still need to provide compelling interfaces where people can collaborate.
   
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If any of these insights about the emerging agent-powered future resonated with you, check out the full conversation with Matt Biilmann to understand how your organization can prepare for this transformational shift.

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