2025 is shaping up to be the "year of AI agents". We've put together a list of startup ideas that we think are especially promising— some draw attention to trends that are already in full swing, and some of them are where we think things are going next. ycombinator.com/rfs
Full-stack AI companies @snowmaker If you build a great AI accountant, why sell it to legacy accounting firms when you could start an AI accounting firm and beat them? We think founders will increasingly choose to do just that, and we're excited to fund more of these full-stack AI companies.
More Design Founders @aaron_epstein As AI tools make coding easier, great design and taste matter more than ever. That's why more designers should become founders. Don't just design products – create companies.
Voice AI @gustaf Phone calls with businesses haven’t changed in decades—until now. Voice AI bots, powered by LLMs, are finally as good as humans. It’s the autonomous car moment for voice.
@ycombinator @aaron_epstein AI being able to spot visual bugs matters way more than helping with design. Visual bugs on the design implementation. THAT would be the real leap. Because tools like Cursor or Windsurf would get way more powerful if they could actually understand what’s broken in the UI.
@ycombinator @aaron_epstein Design Founder here, OPUS, an Emotional AI Ambient Agent Device :)
@ycombinator @aaron_epstein Thanks for this. I think most people got it wrong. AI is good with designs but cannot truly perform as well as a human can. Designers simply need to use AI to become better not AI replacing designers. I don't see that happening any time soon.
@ycombinator @aaron_epstein Okayyy. I listened to you and... I just applied to YC today after vibecoding findanyrev.com as a designer... Looking forward to the outcome and hopefully to meet some of the faces I've been seeing on your YouTube videos... Wheww. Done is better than perfect 🚀🚀🚀
