From the AI breakthroughs of the last few months, a wave of new startup opportunities have been unlocked. Here are some of the ideas we think will be especially interesting to build now: ycombinator.com/rfs
A Secure AI App Store @garrytan There is a small window today for a startup to create an AI App Store that provides computer use APIs and local LLaMA versioning with secure privacy controls, discovery, and payments. We hope you might build it.
Compliance and Audit @t_blom 4 million people in the US & Europe work in compliance & audit. LLMs will automate the testing that these folks currently do by hand: spotting anomalies in data, identifying incomplete records, or highlighting contradictory policies.
DocuSign 2.0 @mwseibel There is an opportunity with AI to finally make the process of filling out and signing documents delightful.
Browser/Computer Automation @snowmaker AI agents can now browse the web and use desktop applications. It means that every website and every app now effectively has an API, and any workflow that people can do on a computer can be automated.
AI Personal Staff for Everyone @dflieb The world’s richest people employ large staffs of humans, like tax accountants, lawyers, money managers, personal trainers, and even private doctors. AI will soon be good enough to do all these jobs for everyone.
Devtools for AI Agents @dessaigne AI agents are the next wave: autonomous tools that reason, decide, and amplify human productivity. We’re funding startups building devtools for agents, whether you’re creating agent builders or building blocks to perform complex tasks.
The Future of Software Engineering @koomen AI will bring the cost of building software down to zero, but this means we’ll need MORE human developers, not fewer. We’d like to fund startups building tools for this future.
AI Coding Agent for Hardware Optimized Code @sdianahu AI hardware is still constrained by software. However, with reasoning models like Deepseek R1 or OpenAI o1 and o3, AI could generate hardware-optimized code that rivals—or surpasses—human CUDA code.
B2A: Business-to-Agent @daltonc Not b2b, not b2c, but b2a: Business-to-agent. We are looking for startups that are building products where AI agents are the intended customer. Make something agents want.
Vertical AI Agents @snowmaker At a recent event, a founder asked Sam Altman "If you were 24 and starting a startup today, what would you build?" His answer: A vertical AI agent.
@ycombinator @daltonc Was laughed at by a VC 2yrs ago lol x.com/dmvaldman/stat…
@ycombinator @daltonc Was laughed at by a VC 2yrs ago lol x.com/dmvaldman/stat…
@ycombinator @daltonc This is exactly what we build with sherlockdomains.com 🔥
@ycombinator @daltonc This agent will need a way to get paid! If you’re building this DM me. We have built programatic monetization payments for agents @trySkyfire
Our AI agents have been built a step further.. we are building A2A systems, where travel personalization agents will negotiate with agents by Service providers to source the best deals for their users. They will pay or get paid for expertise. Also adding a completely new sales and monetization funnel. bukprotocol.ai/launchpad
@ycombinator @daltonc We call it A2B + A2C = A2A Economy :) sendbird.com/blog/ai-agent-…
@ycombinator @daltonc building for the machine 👀
@ycombinator @ogandreakiro @daltonc $NUIT can also already do this
@ycombinator @daltonc Interesting point of view.
@ycombinator @daltonc how can i identify as agent ?
@ycombinator @daltonc Business to agent is the need of the hour
@ycombinator @daltonc i could already see interesting use cases of this in travel, SEO, finance, and so much more!
@ycombinator @daltonc I also think this will be common in 2026+
- B2A focuses on AI agents as primary customers for software solutions. - A significant portion of internet traffic is generated by machines, not humans. - Developing APIs for AI agents can include tasks like payments, travel bookings, and legal contracts. - The stock market already sees human and program trading, a trend expected to grow online. - Companies interested in B2A are encouraged to explore this emerging market. 👉Full Summary: digestly.me/media-summarie…
Hey, I’ve been working on a platform that helps AI agents become faster and smarter by teaching LLMs when to call APIs—no more guesswork or hardcoded if-else logic. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, and if it sounds interesting, you’re welcome to join our waitlist for beta access!! tally.so/r/m6WVXN youtube.com/watch?v=30hNB3…