Mike Hostetler on Autonomous Agents

In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I sit down with Mike Hostetler, creator of Jido, a powerful framework for building autonomous AI agent systems in Elixir. We explore why Elixir's actor model and OTP make it the ideal platform for creating massive agent swarms.

Mike shares his vision of "10,000 agents per human" and explains how Jido's architecture leverages Elixir's strengths to build scalable, distributed agent systems. We dive deep into the framework's core components including actions (atomic units of work), signals (messaging backbone), and how agents can spawn sub-agents in supervision trees. The conversation covers practical applications, from Discord bots to job board automation.

Our discussion reveals fascinating insights about the future of software development, where traditional coding languages may need to evolve for the agent-driven world. Mike explains his design philosophy of keeping LLMs separate from the core framework, allowing for both AI-powered and traditional NPC-style agents to coexist efficiently.

This episode provides valuable perspective for developers interested in building autonomous systems, understanding distributed architecture, and preparing for the next evolution in software development where agents become integral to our development workflow.

**Resources Mentioned:**
- Jido Framework: https://github.com/agentjido
- Agent Jido: https://agentjido.xyz
- Mike's Website: https://mike-hostetler.com/

**Connect with Mike:**
- X/Twitter: @mikehostetler

SUPPORT ELIXIR MENTOR
- Elixir Mentor: https://elixirmentor.com