SUMM

The number of AI agents will vastly surpass the human population, possibly growing exponentially as use cases expand.
25% of YC startups report that AI writes 95% of their code.
37% of the latest YC batch are building agents as their primary products, rather than traditional SaaS or copilot tools.
Tools for agents often fail when humans are removed from the loop, highlighting a need for true agent-centric development.

Tools should be designed for the future by focusing on "Agent Experience (AX)"—building products for agents, not just for humans.
AX is defined as how easily agents can access, understand, and operate within digital environments to accomplish user goals.
Emphasis on enabling agents to work autonomously is critical; existing tools often require fallback to human intervention, which limits full automation.

Seamless authentication is key; agents need to access services without relying on user input or sharing sensitive credentials.
Agent-readable documentation, such as Stripe's markdown docs and adoption of standards like llms.txt, enhances agent usability.
API-first design is vital since machine-native interfaces (APIs) are the most effective way for agents to interact with tools.

The concept of autonomy—agents acting entirely independently—is often missing from current AX thinking.
True agent experience requires eliminating human dependence for agent tasks, including debugging and handling errors.

Daytona provides secure, elastic infrastructure ("agent-native runtime") where agents can run code and perform complex tasks.
The platform serves as a virtual "laptop" for agents.
Key principles include speed (27 ms spin-up for environments), API-first controls (machine management via API), and pre-loading environments with headless tools to streamline agent operations.

Declarative image builder allows agents to request custom sandbox environments with specific dependencies, built and launched autonomously.
Introduction of Daytona volumes enables agents to efficiently share large datasets across isolated environments without repeated uploads.
Agents can execute tasks in parallel, rapidly forking environments to optimize decision-making and outcomes—something humans cannot do at comparable scale.

The needs of agent-focused tools are rapidly evolving, with new requirements emerging as more users build and scale agents.
Builders should reevaluate tools that rely on human-in-the-loop processes; full autonomy for agents should be the target.
The talk posits that agent experience is the only experience that will matter as agents become the predominant users of digital products, outnumbering and ultimately replacing human end-users in many workflows.

While Daytona initially focused on developer experience (terminal/UI), priority has shifted to ensuring agents can perform tasks end to end with zero human intervention.
If agents can't use or complete tasks with your product autonomously, it's likely no one will in the future.
Daytona is open source, and engagement is welcomed for those interested in agent experience.

AX is the only Experience that Matters - Ivan Burazin, Daytona