The agent market is flooding
Inside: Slack's CRM update, IBM's $11B bet, and the difference between flows and agents.
Welcome to issue #93 of FutureBrief. Three times a week I share practical insights on AI & automation trends, tools, and tutorials for business leaders. If you need support on your technological journey, join our community and get access to group chat, Q&As, workshops, and templates.
Ninjabot, a ready-to-deploy AI agent that responds to inquiries in 10-60 seconds (not hours), reaches out to relevant contacts on social media 24/7 (no spam), and warms up your database via SMS/email (including follow-ups).
🔮 Today’s insights
SnapTodo Launches AI-Powered Cursor for To-Do Lists
SnapTodo has launched a new planner that uses AI to automatically reschedule your day based on reality. For chaotic founders, this replaces the manual drudgery of dragging calendar blocks around when a meeting runs late; the AI logic reprioritizes your schedule instantly.
Slack Adds Native Customer Contact Management
Slack effectively became a Lite CRM this week with a new update allowing users to store and manage customer details directly in channels. This matters because it removes the friction of logging into Salesforce for simple updates, keeping your data where your team actually talks.
IBM Acquires Confluent for $11B to Power Agentic Data
IBM has acquired data streaming giant Confluent to build the real-time data infrastructure required for enterprise AI agents. This validates a major shift: static databases are out, and real-time data streams are the new requirement for powering autonomous business automation.
Webflow Reimagines AI Assistant for Agentic Workflows
Webflow’s AI can now generate production-ready React components and web apps from natural language. This moves the platform from a design tool to a “code generation” environment, allowing marketing teams to build complex web calculators or dashboards without a developer.
💡 The agent market is flooding
Everyone is selling an AI agent now. The market has exploded with tools promising to be your AI employee, AI SDR, or AI marketer.
The reality is that 90% of them are just ChatGPT wrappers with a higher price tag.
From my recent audits of client tech stacks, I am seeing businesses pay $50/month for “specialized agents” that do nothing more than a well-prompted custom GPT could do for $20.
My advice is simple. Before buying a shiny new AI agent, check for added value. Does it have specific knowledge integration? Does it connect to tools you cannot reach otherwise?
If it is just a chat interface that writes emails, you do not need a new subscription. You need a better prompt in the tool you already have.
💬 Community Q&A
Q: “What is the difference between an AI Agent and a complex automation flow?”
A: The difference is deterministic vs. probabilistic.
An automation flow (like n8n or Make) follows strict rules. “If X happens, do Y.” It never deviates. It is perfect for data flows where accuracy is 100% required.
An AI agent (like a ChatGPT agent or Ninjabot) has a goal. “Handle this customer return.” It figures out the steps (check policy, generate label, email user) itself based on the context.
Use automation for predictable tasks. Use AI for tasks where creativity is needed.
Want to share your take or question? Just comment on this post on LinkedIn, and I’ll reply to you personally.
🔧 Tools & Resources
SnapTodo: Cursor for your calendar that auto-schedules tasks. Best for founders who constantly overestimate what they can get done in a day.
Activepieces: Open-source, no-code business automation tool with unlimited tasks. Best for technical teams wanting a cheaper, self-hosted alternative to Zapier.
500 AI Agents Projects: A curated GitHub collection of agent templates. Best for developers looking for blueprints to build their own internal tools.
Thales AI Security Fabric: Protects AI agents from prompt injection and data leaks. Best for enterprise teams deploying customer-facing agents that need security.
Make: Visual automation platform that just improved its credit usage transparency. Best for complex workflows that require branching logic and lower costs than Zapier.
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Forward this to a colleague who’s wrestling with manual processes. They’ll thank you.
What’s your take on today’s topics? Did you like it, or is there something I missed?
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