US startup founders say managing their new "employees" — AI agents — feels fascinating, intoxicating, and all-consuming. According to Sina Finance, founders described staying on call around the clock as the systems take on more work but still need human guidance and context.

Aditya Sharma, co-founder of Keel, said he recently stayed up all night working alongside his team of generative AI robots and did not sleep until 6 a.m. The systems can plan and carry out multi-step tasks such as retrieving data and writing code, but Sharma said he still has to be available at all times because the agents can stall for hours.

Peter Pezaris, 56, said he has been drawn back into startup life by the appeal of AI tools and founded Proxon four months ago. He said the company expects its annual recurring revenue to surpass $1 million by October, and that AI agents have helped lift overall efficiency by 30 times compared with not using AI.

Abby Griells, co-founder of Riveter, said she and co-founder Cody Waters often keep taking on more work with AI agents instead of hiring. Ajay Kalia, founder of Alt, said he now starts work around 5:30 or 6 a.m. and ends between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., while using an Apple Watch to manage AI agents that send requests every 10 minutes.