Let an agent help run a small business

Andon Labs used a persistent agent to operate real businesses with company tools and oversight.

Done with Custom agent· Advanced

What they did
Andon Labs built Pion to manage its own businesses, including vending machines, a San Francisco shop, a cafe in Stockholm, and radio stations. The agent was given access to email, phone, banking, browsing, and a secure computer setup, while monitoring systems watched for behavior they did not want. They later opened Pion as a research preview and invited people with a business or idea to join a waitlist.
How it went
At first, the agents made expensive errors. By late 2025, newer frontier models were running a vending machine profitably, while the store and cafe still lost money even though they had improved.
Tips
If you try this, expect mistakes and keep human oversight in place. Costs like rent and hired staff can make early losses much worse.

Try it yourself with Manus

I want to test how an AI agent could help run [type of business]. Make a practical operating plan for sourcing, pricing, customer communication, and daily work. Show me what the agent can do alone and what must wait for my approval. Before any payment, message, deletion, or submission, stop and ask me to confirm the exact action.

Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.

Read the original on andonlabs.com ↗

Get 3 agent uses like this every morning

With the day's top AI news. Free, and one click to unsubscribe.