The head of AI agent provider Applied Labs argued the challenge of deploying the technology is at an inflection point, as companies begin to shift attention from choosing a large language model (LLM) towards how best to employ them in day-to-day operations.
Applied Labs CEO Michael Woo (pictured, right) believes business leaders are now firmly hooked on the concept of employing AI, meaning attention is shifting to strategies which will reap the greatest benefits.
“The bottleneck isn’t the model anymore; LLM quality, speed and cost have reached an inflection point where almost every business can save time, cost and improve the quality of their support and apps,” Woo stated.
He believes implementation challenges now lie in the “data, tools and platform” which enable teams to quickly deploy AI agents on “business-critical workflows”.
Backing
Woo made the comments as Applied Labs announced its total funding hit $5.2 million a year after being founded, following a fresh round led by VC company Abstract which netted $4.2 million.
Abstract was joined in the latest round by Point72 Ventures, Outlander and Tetra, with so-called angel investors including Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, Modal CTO Akshat Bubna and former Twitter executive Ali Rowghani.
Woo co-founded Applied Labs in January 2024 along with Soham Waychal (pictured, left): both previously worked for model creator Scale AI.
The pair are pitching Applied Labs as a company focused on providing reliable and easy to use AI agents covering communications, orchestration of queries and workflows, and tools to evaluate the outcomes.
Woo cautioned poor planning of AI agents leads to poor execution and could also impact real care staff, who he argues must remain a key element in any automation strategy.
Applied Labs intends to use some of its fresh funding to grow its staff, with a focus on engineers.
Source: Mobile World Live
