243 - Agent Builder is Here! What Does it Do? with Elizabeth Knopf
Nikonomics - The Economics of Small Business
Previewing a Research Bot Demo
Nik presents a live demo setup for a research bot that finds registered agents and business owners on state sites.
Join me, Nik (https://x.com/CoFoundersNik), as I sit down with Elizabeth Knopf (https://x.com/leveragedupside) to demystify OpenAI's newest creation, the Agent Builder.
We set the context by explaining the crucial difference between simple, static if-then automation and a true agent, which requires autonomy, memory, and decision-making capabilities in a workflow. This tool is designed to finally make building complex agentic workflows accessible to business owners who aren't technical experts.
Liz walks us through the platform.openai.com/playground interface and demos a real-world research agent in action. We dive deep into the cost structure, explaining why OpenAI charges based on a high-call usage-based model using API calls, which can "add up really quickly", instead of a flat monthly subscription like ChatTPT.We compare it head-to-head with competitors like N8n, Lindy, and Zapier. While the Agent Builder UI is "way less intimidating" and features like Guardrails are valuable for mitigating hallucinations and protecting sensitive data, Liz reveals that the execution is "not quite there yet". Questions This Episode Answers:
• What is the core difference between an Agent and a standard business Automation?
• Why does OpenAI use a usage-based model for Agent Builder instead of a flat monthly fee?
• How does OpenAI’s new Agent Builder compare directly to tools like Zapier, N8n, or Lindy?
• What are Guardrails, and how do they protect internal business documents and mitigate hallucinations?
• What are the most likely and best use cases for building business agents right now?
Enjoy the conversation!
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This week we covered:00:00 Introduction to OpenAI's Agent Builder
03:05 Understanding Agents vs. Automation
05:48 Navigating the OpenAI Interface
09:09 Exploring Use Cases and Templates
11:57 Building a Research Bot with Agent Builder
14:49 Guardrails and Safety in Agent Workflows
18:04 Live Demo: Data Enrichment Use Case
20:55 Sentiment Analysis on Social Media
23:48 Challenges and Limitations of Agent Builder
27:05 Comparing Agent Builder with Other Tools
29:52 Future Potential and User Experience
33:03 Conclusion and Call to Action
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