I’m writing this because I’ve been living it.
Over the last couple of weeks, I set up Mac minis for each of my businesses. I started with my own setup first.
Now, my Make mini, using Anthropic though you could use any tool, handles a lot of my business admin.
It does my reconciliation, checks my accounts, and makes sure everything is on track.
It helps with all the small admin tasks I need to keep the business running smoothly, like looking through emails and checking for any issues I need to handle for tax, legal, or governance reasons.
This got me thinking about where things might head.
Right now, the models we’re using are already a bit old, Opus 4.6, for example.
But looking ahead, the real blockers are that these systems are still built for humans first.
Imagine if my entire banking system was just an API (application programming interface).
I wouldn’t need a screen, though there should still be a way for a human to view it if needed.
The main input would be the API, with the interface as more of a viewer or modifier.
Maybe we’ll see more systems designed agent-first, similar to how we had mobile-first and web-first approaches in the past.
Now, it could be agent-first.
This raises an important point.
If you haven’t got solid data or can’t create an API, you’re not going to be able to participate in this new landscape.
It’s a bit like when not having a website or mobile app meant you barely existed as a business.
Now, if you aren’t agent-first, you risk not existing at all.
It’s fascinating to watch.
I’m curious how people will adapt.
This is the part leaders tend to miss: agent-first is not a tool choice, it’s a design choice.
If your systems are built to be clicked, scrolled, and manually checked, then your organisation stays dependent on human attention.
If your systems are built to be called, queried, and verified, then your organisation can run agentic workflows that scale without burning people out.
Amitabh Sinha puts it bluntly:
"The reality, however, is far harsher: we're living in an API Desert. For every shiny, well-documented API, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of critical business processes and legacy applications that remain stubbornly inaccessible to direct programmatic control. While the front-end user experience has exploded with diverse applications, the back-end connectivity needed for true agentic automation simply hasn't kept pace. This stark contrast between the visible surface of our digital tools and their hidden depths is one of the most significant contributors to the agent gap.
If you lead operations, finance, customer, or product, this lands in a practical way:
That “manual glue” is where errors, delays, and burnout sit.
Arie Edge frames it in a way that should calm the nerves and sharpen the focus:
Agent First is an operational strategy where digital AI agents handle repetitive, rule-based, or high-volume tasks, allowing human teams to focus on high-value decision-making, creativity, and problem-solving. It’s not about replacing humans. It’s about enabling them to do more of what only humans can do — while agents handle the rest."
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-started-agent-first-your-company-ariedge-ehapc
So the leadership question is not “Should we use agents?”
It’s this:
David Cronshaw captures both the upside and the risk:
"Agent-first means outcome-driven systems that can plan steps, call tools, remember context, and ask for review when stakes are high. Think “describe the goal → the agent figures out how.” Great for dynamic, judgment-heavy work like sales ops, support triage, research, and content operations. The risk: without guardrails, agents can wander. Success here depends on clear objectives, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and access to trustworthy data."
From a governance standpoint, this is the heart of it:
This stuff is genuinely hard, because it touches process, risk, and culture at the same time.
Use this as a pragmatic sequence. You can run it in weeks, not quarters.
Start where pain and repetition are obvious:
Success looks like:
List where truth lives today:
Then ask a blunt question:
If the answer is no, you have found your constraint.
You do not need to remove screens.
You need to stop treating screens as the primary interface.
The IBM perspective is useful here because it frames agentic and API-first as a business model shift, not a developer hobby:
https://www.ibm.com/blog/agentic-ai-api-first-business-models/
Keep it practical:
Cronshaw’s point about “ask for review when stakes are high” is the operational design pattern to copy.
Define “high stakes” in your context:
Then design the workflow so the agent prepares, and a human approves.
Agent-first collapses if data is messy.
If you want agents to work, you need:
This is unglamorous work, but it is the difference between “cool demo” and “reliable operations”.
A balanced view matters.
Some work should stay human-led:
Agent-first does not mean “automate everything”.
It means:
Ask your team:
If you can answer those, you’re already adapting.
If you cannot, that’s fine too.
You’ve found the work.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-started-agent-first-your-company-ariedge-ehapc