a16z(@a16z):Assistant Benchmark creator David Pawlan says the internet is about to get an agent-to-agent layer: Anish: "It does feel like there's going to be infrastructure and products that exist only for agent-to-agent interactions that doesn't exist today." David: "You have agent emails, you have agent phone numbers. What does the world of service look like when it's no longer human booking to human, and no longer agent booking from human, but it's now agent booking from agent? How does that redefine the entire service industry?" "Internet came first, then came cybersecurity. Agents came first, now comes the security component of these agents. What industry is that going to create?" "There's so much opportunity and so many problems to solve with these agents. I think it is inevitable that we're going to see so many startups popping up trying to figure out all these niche problems to build this new wave of internet and digital connectivity." @DavidPawlan @illscience

2026.09.29 18:05

Assistant Benchmark creator David Pawlan says the internet is about to get an agent-to-agent layer: Anish: "It does feel like there's going to be infrastructure and products that exist only for agent-to-agent interactions that doesn't exist today." David: "You have agent emails, you have agent phone numbers. What does the world of service look like when it's no longer human booking to human, and no longer agent booking from human, but it's now agent booking from agent? How does that redefine the entire service industry?" "Internet came first, then came cybersecurity. Agents came first, now comes the security component of these agents. What industry is that going to create?" "There's so much opportunity and so many problems to solve with these agents. I think it is inevitable that we're going to see so many startups popping up trying to figure out all these niche problems to build this new wave of internet and digital connectivity." @DavidPawlan @illscience

a16z@a16z

2026.09.29 15:13

Assistant Benchmark creator David Pawlan sits down with a16z's Anish Acharya to unpack the sudden explosion of personal AI agents and what it will take for one to become part of everyday life. David has been testing dozens of assistants across real-world tasks, from managing email and booking travel to handling financial admin. They discuss why the most useful agents may become increasingly invisible, proactively checking you into flights, finding refunds, filing reimbursements, or simply handling the small tasks that pile up across everyday life. They also explore whether the winning interface is an app, text thread, voice, or wearable; how much autonomy consumers will actually give their agents; and what happens when agents start interacting with other agents. From commerce and restaurant reservations to entirely new agent-native services, Anish and David ask what the internet looks like when software starts acting on our behalf. 00:54 Poke, Instinct, Muse: the agent boom 03:41 What Assistant Bench actually tests 09:14 Cost savers beat time savers 14:53 Muse charm as Meta's data play 20:03 Silent agents in group chats 26:01 Proactivity is the real moat 32:21 Assistant vs agent, defined 40:22 Amazon blocks Muse, Shopify opens the door 47:35 The $20/day agent economics YouTube: @DavidPawlan @illscience