The Generalist

The Evolution of AI Agents: Navigating the “Fog of AI” in Rapidly Changing Foundations | Stanislas Polu and Harrison Chase

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Jul 29, 2025
Stanislas Polu, CEO of Dust and former OpenAI researcher, and Harrison Chase, CEO of LangChain, discuss the transformative future of AI agents. They reflect on the evolution of AI since the pre-ChatGPT days and the challenges of building reliable systems in the “fog of AI.” Expect insights on high-leverage use cases in various sectors, the difference between AI workflows and true agents, and the vital role of adaptability and simplicity in user adoption. They also explore strategies for startups to find their footing in a rapidly changing landscape.
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ANECDOTE

Pre-ChatGPT Early Collaboration

  • Stan Polu and Harrison Chase met before ChatGPT when few were interested in LLM applications.
  • Their early collaboration was driven by a small, focused community exploring product uses for LLMs.
INSIGHT

Agents vs Workflows Analogy

  • Agents decide control flow dynamically in applications, unlike workflows which are deterministic.
  • Stan compares workflows and agents to McDonald's versus Michelin star cooking: predictable versus improvisational.
ADVICE

Build Agents Not Workflows

  • Build agents over workflows to unlock more powerful long-term solutions.
  • Agents enable broader accessibility through natural language instructions, easier for non-experts to create.
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