AI Agents: Building the Self-Driving Startup

This week I chat with NoCode legend JJ Englert to break down the AI agent revolution, plus my hands-on experiment building agents with n8n.

Feb 07, 2025

Hey there!

Welcome to this week's NoCode SaaS newsletter, where I take you along on the ride of building a SaaS business without code on Bubble.

What if you could build a startup that practically runs itself?

Not just the product development, but everything from customer onboarding to marketing.

This week, I'm diving into AI Agents and how they might finally help us realize the dream of the 'self-driving startup.'

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

As an indie founder running UserLoop without VC funding or a large team, I've already embraced AI and NoCode for all my product development.

But I kept wondering - could we push this automation even further? That's when AI Agents caught my attention.

Instead of just theorizing, I decided to spin up my own self hosted instance of n8n.

After watching a few tutorials I was able to put a new onboarding agent for UserLoop which helps me out with a few tasks

When a new user signs up to UserLoop it scrapes their website using Perplexity Sonar
I then get back a detailed report of who the customer is, their market etc
I then use Anthropic to compose a personalised series of welcome emails to the specific customer
The emails then automatically get sent from my personal Gmail account

To really understand where this technology is headed, I reached out to my long-time friend (and NoCode industry legend) JJ Englert.

We had a fascinating conversation about everything from getting started with AI Agents to their potential to revolutionize how we build and run businesses.

Let’s dive in now, it’s a truly fascinating topic.

The Rise of AI Agents: A Conversation with JJ Englert

JD: There's a lot of buzz around AI agents right now. How would you define them for someone new to the concept?

JJ: Let me first explain what a true AI agent is, and then address some of the confusion in the market. At its core, an AI agent is a system that can think, reason, and take autonomous actions on your behalf.

What sets it apart from traditional automation is its ability to make independent decisions based on context and reasoning, rather than following predefined paths.

Think of it this way: traditional automation is like following a detailed recipe – if X happens, do Y.

An AI agent is more like having an assistant who understands your goals and can figure out how to achieve them, making decisions along the way based on changing circumstances.

That said, there's currently some confusion in the market because many tools being labeled as "AI agents" are really just AI-enhanced workflows or automations. While the terminology might not be perfect, it's what the world knows right now. Rather than fight against this terminology, it's better to meet people where they are and then help them understand the spectrum from simple AI automation to truly autonomous agents.

The key distinction is independence and reasoning capability. A true AI agent can:

Understand and interpret complex instructions
Make independent decisions based on multiple factors
Adapt its approach based on new information
Take appropriate actions without needing step-by-step guidance
Learn from previous interactions and outcomes

What's particularly interesting is that despite No-Code being around for 5+ years, AI Agents have achieved far greater market visibility and interest.

Looking at Google Trends data we can see that AI Agents have rapidly surpassed No-Code in terms of search interest and industry attention.

This suggests that AI Agents are resonating with a broader audience and addressing more immediate business needs than previous waves of automation technology.

JD: What platforms are leading the way in the AI agent space?

JJ: There's a fascinating range of platforms emerging, each with their own unique approach to AI agents:

N8N has really capitalized on the AI agent wave through their visual editor and direct integration of AI agent functionality. They've made it particularly accessible for non-technical users while maintaining the power for complex workflows.

Lindy.ai has taken a very business-focused approach - think of it as the "Softr version" of AI agents.

They're very user-friendly and have recently secured $50 million in funding, which speaks to the market's confidence in their approach.

Lutra.ai offers an interesting ChatGPT-like interface where you can create agents through natural language conversation. What's particularly powerful is that these agents can be scheduled to run automatically, making it very intuitive for users who are comfortable with chat interfaces.

Lyzr.ai has carved out a niche by focusing on security and privacy - they provide a way to build AI agents that can safely connect to your business data. This is particularly important for enterprises and businesses handling sensitive information.

Mindstudio.ai is emerging as a more advanced platform, similar to N8N in power but with deeper AI integration. While it's still early in its development, it shows a lot of promise for users who need more sophisticated agent capabilities.

Make (formerly Integromat) can build agent-like capabilities, though they've been somewhat quiet about it from a marketing perspective. I expect them to make a bigger push in this direction soon - they have the technical foundation to be a major player.

Zapier has recently entered the space as well. True to their reputation for simplicity, they've made it exceptionally easy to add tools to an agent and create basic agentic workflows. While it might not be as powerful as some other platforms, it's perfect for simple use cases and users who want to get started quickly.

The interesting thing about this space is that we're seeing platforms approach it from different angles - some focusing on ease of use, others on power and flexibility, and others on security and privacy. This diversity means users can choose a platform that best matches their specific needs and technical capabilities.

JD: Can you share a practical example of how businesses are using AI agents?

JJ: Let me share several real-world examples that showcase the versatility of AI agents: The first is social media engagement automation. You can create an agent that monitors platforms like Reddit for brand mentions.

Here's how it works:

The agent continuously scans Reddit for your company name.

When a mention is found, it uses AI to analyze whether the post is valuable or just promotional
- If it's a meaningful post, the agent automatically drafts a response using content from your help center
The draft is sent to your team via Slack for review
Once approved, the response is automatically posted

This moves your team from constant monitoring to just reviewing and approving thoughtful, pre-written responses.

It's a perfect example of keeping humans in the loop while automating the time-consuming parts of the process.

Another powerful use case is SEO and backlink automation. Traditional backlink management tools can be replaced with specialized AI agents that:

Monitor your backlink profile Analyze the quality and relevance of incoming links Identify opportunities for new backlinks Generate appropriate outreach messages Track and report on backlink performance

What's particularly exciting is that we're seeing new use cases emerge almost weekly as platforms add capabilities and users discover novel ways to implement them.

JD: How are these platforms making AI agents accessible to non-technical users?

JJ: Platforms are taking different approaches. Lindy.ai, for instance, uses plain text for conditions and logic - you can simply type what you want to happen, and it will define the logic for you.

Other platforms like Lutra.ai use a playbook mechanism where you can configure your account and then use chat-GPT style interactions to set up automations.

The key is making it visual and intuitive rather than code-heavy.

JD: What's your perspective on the future of this technology?

JJ: The space is evolving so rapidly that the eventual market leader might not even exist yet. What's clear is that we're moving toward a future where everyone will have their own suite of AI agents working for them, fundamentally changing how we interact with technology and manage our work.

I envision a transition where our role will shift from doing tasks to supervising agents who do them for us. Initially, we'll see a lot of "human in the loop" systems where agents handle the heavy lifting but still require human oversight and approval for key decisions.

This is a necessary trust-building phase.

As these systems prove themselves reliable and we become more comfortable with their decision-making, we'll gradually allow them to operate more autonomously.

The key here isn't just technological capability - it's about building trust and understanding where human judgment remains crucial.

Think of it like training a new employee: at first, you review everything they do, but over time, as they prove themselves capable and reliable, you give them more independence.

The difference is that once an AI agent masters a task, it can be replicated infinitely.

JD: For someone looking to get started with AI agents, what would you recommend?

JJ: Start with a real problem you want to solve. Having a specific challenge in mind makes the learning process much more focused and meaningful than just experimenting randomly. Begin with simpler platforms like Zapier for basic implementations, then progress to more sophisticated tools like Lindy.ai and n8n as your needs grow.

A great shortcut is to explore the template galleries on platforms like N8N. These templates show you how experienced builders have structured their agents and can give you practical insights into best practices. Plus, you can often modify these templates to fit your specific needs rather than starting from scratch.

JD: How do you see AI agents impacting the traditional SaaS business model?

JJ: We're witnessing the emergence of entirely new business models. The most significant is what I call "Agents as a Service" - instead of subscribing to traditional SaaS products, companies will rent specialized AI agents for specific tasks. We're already seeing early signs of this transition.

I expect we'll soon see dedicated agencies focusing solely on building and maintaining custom AI agents for businesses.

Alongside this, agent marketplaces will emerge where you can "hire" pre-built agents on a monthly basis, similar to how we subscribe to software today.

What's particularly exciting is the potential for highly specialized agents. Imagine agents specifically trained to edit videos in Premiere Pro, design your app in Figma. As agents mature, the more domain access to specific tools, will grow too.

In fact, Hubspot’s CTO, even thinks websites and SaaS's will alter to allow for very Agent ready documentation for each site / app, making it very easy for external agents to tap into the platform, similar to how we might be using APIs today.

Instead of paying monthly subscriptions for various SaaS tools, companies might redirect those budgets toward renting these specialized agents that can actually execute the work.

This shift could fundamentally change how businesses allocate their resources. Rather than purchasing software licenses and training employees to use them, you might simply rent an agent that's already an expert at that specific task. It's like having access to a skilled workforce that operates at machine scale and speed.

JD: What's the relationship between no-code tools and AI agents?
JJ: I think no-code tools will increasingly be discovered through AI, rather than the other way around.

Our no-code knowledge becomes particularly valuable when deploying AI solutions - understanding visual builders, workflow automation, and system integration are all crucial skills in the AI agent space.

JJ Englert is currently developing a comprehensive course on AI agents, teaching everything from basic automations to complex multi-agent systems. His approach focuses on practical, real-world applications that businesses can implement today. You can get $50 off with the code NOCODESAAS. Intro to AI Agents Course.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading I hope you found this interesting.

Would you like me to cover more on AI Agents in the future? Drop me a reply.

If you have a moment I’d really appreciate you taking my reader’s survey (thank you to everyone who has so far!) this is helping me work out the future format of the newsletter.

If you’re in the UK don’t forget that earlybird tickets to the Create With Conference 2025 end at midnight tonight, so don’t miss out on attending the UK’s first AI and NoCode conference!