Botlord: The Human as Corporation
Andy Smith
I’ve always tried to see myself as a company. Even as an employee, I viewed my employer as a client or partner. The problem is, I did it poorly. I only recently realized that I think in processes rather than product-outcomes, and that needs to change (see: Product Over Technology). But the core idea remains: I am a single independent economic unit that joins forces with other independent units to achieve shared goals. This partnership is mutually beneficial and voluntary.
With AI, this approach intensifies. The boundary between individual and company is dissolving. This video proposes viewing yourself as a complex AI corporation, which creates new challenges people haven’t faced before: management, finance, security, oversight, legal, and more.
The proposal is to become a manager. Not a seagull-manager, department head, or paper-pusher, but a true CEO: a leader and visionary. Apply classical management models to an organization of your AI agents. You’ll need to build organizational structure, design data processing pipelines, delegate tasks and decisions, and take personal responsibility for your employees’ actions. This means not giving them too much authority, or better yet, running them in isolated capsules. There’s no other way. Everyone must learn to build systems, not just do things. Push yourself left along the value chain!
Now is the time to learn management.
Though I see a challenge here. AI agents aren’t people in the traditional sense. You can’t punish or reward an AI agent. Classical models will need adaptation. But the core principles can probably still apply.