Introduction

On March 5th, 2025, Manus AI (an Autonomous Agent from a Chinese startup) demonstrated its new product on X. Within a day, there were 200,000 views and in less than a week, more than 1 million requests to join the waitlist for its private beta¹.

Autonomous AI agents are emerging as a transformative force in finance and the broader economy. Unlike traditional software or even advanced chatbots, these agents can make decisions and execute tasks independently – from analyzing stock portfolios to managing complex workflows – with minimal human input. For institutional investors, the advent of AI agents like Manus.im signals a new era in which artificial intelligence not only augments decision-making but can act on its own directives in real time. This paper explores how such AI agents will impact capital markets, drive productivity and GDP growth, create new investment opportunities, and how investors should position their portfolios to benefit from this revolution.

AI Agents in Capital Markets: Automating Decisions and Execution

AI agents are poised to automate decision-making and trade execution in capital markets. Today’s quantitative funds and algorithmic traders already rely on preset algorithms, but AI agents take this further by dynamically learning, reasoning, and acting across a range of tasks without explicit instructions at each step. For example, Manus.im – a newly launched AI agent – can autonomously analyze financial transactions and market trends, then optimize decisions and execute trades or other actions that traditionally required human analysts or traders. In practical terms, an AI agent could:

• Digest news and data 24/7: Scour financial news, earnings calls, and social media in real time, gauging sentiment or detecting market-moving information faster than any human.
• Adapt trading strategies on the fly: Continually adjust portfolio positions or algorithmic strategies in response to new data (e.g. adjusting equity exposure if an economic indicator surprises, or rebalancing assets during volatility).
• Execute with precision and speed: Place orders across markets in milliseconds when conditions meet predefined risk/return criteria, or even derive those criteria through self-learning.

By automating these processes, AI agents could make markets more efficient but also potentially more volatile in the short term, as machine-driven strategies react at lightning speed. The emerging role of AI agents is thus twofold: they offer the promise of better-informed, unbiased decisions and cost savings, but also create an arms race where investment firms must deploy advanced AI to keep up with competitors. Early evidence of this shift is visible – for instance, the excitement around autonomous agents has already triggered significant capital flows into AI-driven funds (the launch of Manus reportedly led to billions of dollars moving into AI-focused ETFs within days². Going forward, trading floors may evolve into “human+AI” hybrid operations, and firms that successfully integrate autonomous decision-making AI could gain an edge in alpha generation and risk management.

Manus.im vs. OpenAI’s Operator

Manus.im has quickly positioned itself as a leading AI agent platform delivering tangible results, standing out against competitors like OpenAI’s “Operator.” Developed by Chinese startup Monica, Manus is described as a platform that “bridges minds and actions: it doesn’t just think, it delivers results.” In early demos, Manus tackled tasks ranging from planning a detailed travel itinerary to offering in-depth stock analysis and even comparing insurance policies – each from a single user prompt. Unlike large language models (LLMs) that might output a written answer or require step-by-step guidance, Manus executes multi-step tasks autonomously. For example, when asked to create a research report, Manus will independently research data, draft a report, generate charts, and produce a final document without further human direction. This hands-free execution is a significant leap in functionality, delivering end-to-end solutions rather than just information.

OpenAI introduced its first AI agent, "Operator," as a research preview on January 23, 2025.  Operator is designed to autonomously perform web-based tasks – early use cases include filling out online forms, booking travel, or handling e-commerce purchases on behalf of users³. It launched with consumer-facing partners (like Uber and DoorDash) to showcase how a user could delegate everyday online tasks to an AI. While this was groundbreaking, Operator’s current focus is narrower (mostly on consumer and browser tasks) compared to Manus’s wide-ranging ambitions across industries. Manus is pitched as a general-purpose agent that can handle business and finance tasks as readily as personal errands, and its creators claim it even outperforms OpenAI’s own agent on certain benchmarks. Indeed, early demos suggest Manus is showcasing multi-domain expertise and the ability to manage dozens of applications simultaneously.

For institutional investors, Manus’s rapid strides highlight that the competitive landscape of AI agents is global – and that disruptive innovation may come from unexpected players. A key takeaway is that AI agents are moving from concept to reality quickly; the winners will be those that can demonstrate reliability and value in executing complex tasks. Manus’s early momentum (backed by notable funding and investors) suggests it is one to watch, as it validates that an AI agent can directly drive business outcomes rather than just provide recommendations.

Productivity Gains and GDP Growth

The rise of AI agents portends a significant boost to productivity, with ripple effects on economic growth and labor markets. By automating tasks that were previously labor-intensive or time-consuming, AI agents allow firms to produce more with less human input, effectively raising output per worker (or per unit of capital). Historically, general-purpose technologies (e.g. steam power, electricity, the internet), have driven productivity surges and higher GDP growth; AI agents could be another such catalyst. In fact, economists are already projecting sizable impacts: according to PwC, global GDP could be up to 14% higher in 2030 thanks to AI adoption, equivalent to an additional $15.7 trillion in output⁴. Over half of these economic gains are expected to come from productivity improvements, as intelligent systems automate workflows and augment human efficiency.

AI agents amplify these gains by extending automation into knowledge-based and service sectors. In finance, an AI agent can handle tasks like compliance checks or portfolio monitoring overnight; in healthcare, it might automate medical data analysis; in corporate settings, it could manage scheduling, procurement, or customer service inquiries with minimal human oversight. This widespread deployment of “digital workers” has a compounding effect on productivity – potentially lifting the long-run GDP growth trajectory of advanced economies and accelerating development in emerging ones that leverage the tech. Higher productivity can also be disinflationary (lowering costs of goods and services), which might influence central bank policies and interest rates in the long term.

However, these gains will come with a reshaping of global labor markets. AI agents performing decision-making and execution tasks will inevitably displace certain job functions. Roles that involve repetitive information processing or routine decisions (for example, junior analyst work, basic accounting, customer support) are most vulnerable even as it frees them up for higher-level work. We can expect substantial workforce disruption: some jobs will be eliminated, many will evolve, and new roles (like AI system oversight, strategy, or data curation) will emerge. Global labor markets may bifurcate between those who can work effectively with AI and those who compete with AI. On a macro level, countries investing heavily in AI (such as the U.S. and China) could see outsized economic benefits. Others may risk falling behind if they cannot adapt their workforce skills and economic policies to the new AI-driven paradigm.

For investors, these economic shifts imply a need to reconsider assumptions about growth and corporate performance. Corporate earnings could swell for companies that harness AI agents to slash costs or create better products, while wage pressures might ease in some sectors due to automation (potentially increasing profit margins). At the same time, if AI-driven productivity surges, it could raise the natural rate of GDP growth and potentially investment returns across the board – but it might also increase inequality between firms (the AI haves and have-nots) and between workers of different skill levels. Prudent investors will watch metrics like productivity growth, unit labor costs, and AI adoption rates as key indicators of which economies and industries are set to outperform.

AI Investment Opportunities and Market Impact

The advent of powerful AI agents opens a wide spectrum of investment opportunities. As AI-driven efficiency gains filter through to corporate earnings and economic trends, capital allocators should view this not just as a tech fad, but as a fundamental shift in how value is created. Key areas of opportunity include:

• AI Solution Providers: The companies building the “picks and shovels” of the AI agent revolution – from semiconductor firms (supplying the GPUs and chips for AI computing) to cloud infrastructure providers and AI software platforms – stand to benefit immensely. For example, the surge in demand for AI capabilities has already driven extraordinary gains for chipmakers. As businesses race to adopt AI agents, those enabling the technology (model developers, enterprise software firms integrating AI, etc.) are poised for strong growth.
  
• Companies Leveraging AI for Efficiency: Many established companies are now incorporating AI agents or automation into their operations. Investors should look for firms that demonstrably use AI to improve productivity or enhance products/services. This could mean a bank using AI agents to handle back-office processes (reducing costs), a retail chain using AI for supply chain optimization, or a media company using AI to personalize content at scale. These efficiency gains can lead to margin expansion and higher profitability. Corporate leaders often highlight AI initiatives in earnings calls; tracking such developments can reveal who is ahead in the adoption curve. Over time, we may see a performance gap between AI-savvy firms and those sticking to traditional methods, similar to how early IT adopters outpaced others in past decades.
  
• AI in Investment Management: The financial industry itself is an investment opportunity as it embraces AI. Asset managers deploying AI agents for research or trading might achieve better risk-adjusted returns, attracting more assets. Venture capital and private equity funds are pouring money into AI startups, which could lead to lucrative exits or public offerings. Moreover, new investment products are emerging – from AI-driven ETFs to algorithmic funds – allowing investors to ride the AI wave. Institutional investors could allocate a portion of portfolios to specialized AI funds or thematic ETFs focused on AI and automation, which provide diversified exposure to this trend. The key is selectivity: not every AI promise will translate to profits, so due diligence on the real economic value created by a given AI application is crucial.
  
• Macroeconomic and Thematic Plays: On a macro level, if AI agents indeed boost global growth, it could support a bullish case for equities in general (higher growth often lifts corporate earnings broadly). Certain sectors might structurally benefit: technology and communications, but also industries like healthcare, education, and finance that could be transformed by autonomous AI services. Investors might also consider country allocation – for instance, increasing exposure to countries leading in AI adoption (like the USA) which may enjoy higher productivity and growth, while being cautious with regions slow to adapt. Additionally, as AI drives changes in labor markets, consumer spending patterns could shift (if, say, unemployment rises in some sectors or if wages stagnate, that affects consumer goods sectors). Thus, macro-focused investors will incorporate AI trends into their analyses of inflation, interest rates, and fiscal policies. A surge in productivity could keep inflation moderate even in growth periods, influencing bond yields and equity risk premiums.
  

It’s also worth noting that market sentiment is increasingly tied to AI developments. Breakthroughs or setbacks in AI can move markets. The frenzy around generative AI in 2024-2025, for example, saw large inflows into AI-related stocks and sharp rallies in tech indices, reminiscent of past tech booms. While long-term investors should avoid chasing hype, they should recognize that AI is a real paradigm shift – positioning for it early can be rewarding, but it requires staying grounded in fundamental analysis of which AI applications truly drive value.

Portfolio Strategy: Positioning for the AI Agent Era

For institutional investors, the rise of AI agents is a call to action to recalibrate portfolio strategies. Here are several ways investors can adjust portfolios to benefit from (and protect against) the growing influence of AI agents:

• Overweight AI Beneficiaries: Increase exposure to sectors and companies that are clear beneficiaries of AI-driven efficiency. This includes technology firms (AI software, cloud services, chipmakers), but also companies in any industry with a credible strategy for AI adoption. An insurer using AI agents to automate claims processing or a manufacturing firm using AI for predictive maintenance could see improved earnings – those belong in a forward-looking portfolio. Active managers should evaluate how each holding is leveraging AI; a company that aggressively and wisely deploys AI may deserve a premium, whereas one that ignores the trend could become a laggard.
  
• Underweight or Hedge AI Disruptors: Conversely, identify industries or business models at high risk of disruption from AI. For example, firms reliant on large workforces performing routine data tasks, or outsourced service providers doing back-office processing, might face margin pressure as AI can perform similar work at lower cost. If an AI agent can handle basic legal contract reviews, might it reduce the need for junior lawyers or outsourcing firms? Investors should be cautious with companies that have not articulated an AI strategy in sectors where the technology could render traditional methods obsolete. This doesn’t necessarily mean divesting entirely – but hedging those exposures or underweighting them relative to benchmarks could be prudent.
  
• Invest in Human Capital and Transition Winners: A nuanced angle is considering companies that will help facilitate the AI-driven labor transition. For instance, firms in education, training, or human capital management that re-skill workers for an AI-centric workplace could see rising demand. Similarly, companies developing AI ethics, security, and compliance solutions might become essential, given the concerns around autonomous decision systems. These are more indirect plays but could be part of a holistic strategy to capture value around AI adoption.
  
• Balance Growth with Quality: While AI agents promise growth, investors should also focus on quality and robustness. Not every company touting AI will succeed – some may over-invest in wrong initiatives or face execution challenges. Maintain a balanced portfolio where AI-exposure is coupled with strong balance sheets and cash flows. This balance will help weather any volatility if the “AI boom” experiences pauses or shakeouts (for example, if regulation of AI tightens or if a high-profile failure sours sentiment temporarily).
  
• Engage with Asset Managers on AI Integration: Institutional allocators (pension funds, endowments, etc.) should ensure the asset managers they employ are themselves integrating AI into their investment process. Many hedge funds and quant funds are already using AI for signal generation and risk management. Traditional managers are starting to use AI tools for research (like parsing financial statements or transcripts faster). When selecting external managers or funds, due diligence can include questions about how they leverage technology and AI. Those who use AI thoughtfully might gain an edge, which in turn benefits the allocators entrusting them with capital.

In summary, the rise of AI agents should influence both where you invest and how you invest. Portfolio construction in this era means capturing the upside of AI-driven innovation while managing the transition risk in disrupted industries. It also means being agile – the AI field is evolving quickly, so investors must remain informed about technological advances and be ready to adjust exposures as the landscape changes.

Conclusion

The ascendance of AI agents will mark a pivotal shift in capital markets and the global economy. These agents are automating decision-making and execution in ways that promise significant productivity gains and potentially faster GDP growth, albeit with disruptive effects on labor markets and competitive dynamics. For institutional investors, the message is clear: AI applications are no longer niche considerations but core drivers of future returns and risks. Understanding AI agents’ capabilities and implications will be as essential as tracking interest rates or earnings reports. Investors should embrace this change by repositioning portfolios to favor AI-powered value creation, supporting companies and technologies leading the charge, and guarding against the pitfalls for those left behind. Much like previous technological revolutions, those who recognize the trend early and adapt will reap the rewards. In the coming years, capital markets themselves may be partially run by AI agents collaborating with humans, productivity across sectors could surge, and new winners and losers will emerge based on AI proficiency. A proactive, informed investment approach will ensure that as AI agents transform our economic landscape, portfolio performance is enhanced rather than hindered by this historic shift. The bottom line for institutional investors: position for the AI agent era, or risk playing catch-up in a market that’s moving at machine speed.

¹Economic Times - “Manus AI: China's new AI agent can plan your Japan trip and offer analysis of stocks. 10-point explainer”)

²Medium Blog Post - “Manus AI: How China's Fully Autonomous AI Agent Is Redefining …”

³Bain Capital Ventures - “OpenAI Operator Signals the Agentic Era of Commerce is Here”

⁴World Economic Forum - “The global economy will be $16 trillion bigger by 2030 thanks to AI”

StartFast Ventures is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Allan as its newest Venture Partner. With an illustrious career in Artificial Intelligence & entrepreneurship, Jeffrey brings a wealth of experience and strategic insight to the StartFast team.

Jeffrey Allan stands at the forefront of shaping the future of artificial intelligence, blending groundbreaking technology leadership with profound academic insight. As the Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and Artificial Intelligence at Nazareth University, he pioneers responsible AI applications, driving innovations that address critical business and socioethical challenges. Allan’s distinguished career spans from founding high-impact Silicon Valley startups to strategic roles with Fortune 500 companies such as SAP and IBM. His ventures, including Dartmouth-affiliated Echo Ridge and online gaming pioneer Lottery.com, highlight his capability to transform both AI and strategic business landscapes, earning global accolades for innovation and leadership.His book, Writing AI Prompts for Dummies, published by Wiley, has seen a broad international release in 2024, across multiple languages, further cementing his influence in AI education and practice.

"We are excited to welcome Jeffrey Allan to StartFast Ventures," said Chuck Stormon, General Partner at StartFast Ventures. "Jeffrey's extensive experience and deep understanding of AI make him a valuable addition to our team. We are confident that his expertise will further strengthen our ability to identify and support the next generation of unicorns."

"I am honored to join StartFast Ventures and look forward to working with such a dynamic and forward-thinking team," said Jeffrey Allan. "StartFast has a strong reputation for supporting entrepreneurs, and I am excited to contribute to the continued growth and success of our portfolio companies."

StartFast Ventures is a leading venture capital firm dedicated to investing in early-stage technology companies. With a focus on providing hands-on support and strategic guidance, StartFast Ventures is committed to helping founders build successful and sustainable businesses.

For media inquiries, please contact: Olivia Goldstein, General Partner olivia@startfastventures.com

About StartFast Ventures: AI is changing the world and transforming industries. StartFast backs companies that are leveraging AI to massively improve how we live and do business - thereby making the world a better place. For more information, visit startfastventures.com

What’s in a nudge? That is the question we asked ourselves after meeting Balaji Sridharan at a founder conference in Seattle last Fall. It turns out, a simple communication can be the difference between a customer paying their bills early, late or maybe never. Nudging as a lever is something well known to behavioral economists, but testing which messages work best used to be a painfully difficult task.

Until now!

Balaji’s team at KredosAI understood this problem given their work experiences in telecom and financial services and they developed a remarkable AI tool that takes the guesswork out of the equation. Enterprises can have anywhere between 15-20% of their customer base past due at any point in time. At risk are millions of dollars of impact to the bottom lines of mobile carriers and financial services firms who strain to keep customers from falling into the black hole of collections. Also in the balance are customer relationships that once broken, can be impossible to repair.

Today, we are pleased to announce our investment in KredosAI, the leading human-centric AI SaaS platform that provides a superior experience for delinquent consumers while helping enterprises improve their bottom line. StartFast is excited to lead the investment in KredosAI with participation from SaaS Ventures, Stout Street Capital, Okapi Ventures, Early Light Ventures and Seachange Fund. KredosAI’s proprietary AI model learns from actual customer payment behavior, enabling the platform to experiment with large numbers of approaches that scale effectively. KredosAI customers are seeing a 20X return on investment, an 8-10% reduction in suspend rates, and longer customer lifetime value versus companies using legacy systems or outdated approaches.

As cofounders, Balaji and David Thoms have decades of experience in credit risk management, corporate strategy and enterprise software. They are on a mission to change how enterprises resolve late payment issues for the benefit of all parties. StartFast is excited to join the journey and help the KredosAI team accelerate product development, hire new talent, and expand globally.

We're thrilled to announce SelectFI as the newest member of the StartFast portfolio!

The "LendingTree" for automotive dealers, SelectFI is a financing pre-qualification and compliance tool that swiftly matches car buyers to optimal lending sources without requiring a hard credit pull – Increasing time-to-quote efficiency and maximizing dealership profits, all while providing customers the lowest possible monthly payment.

Leveraging a decade of experience at a Top 15 U.S. dealership handling $1.5 billion in annual financing, Founder and CEO Tom Vullo has the sort of expansive domain expertise we rarely see and love to invest behind.

SelectFI is onboarding new customers weekly and projects to secure hundreds more by year's end. Amidst an automotive macro environment with insufficient financing availability and staffing challenges, SelectFI's solution is poised for rapid growth.

StartFast will leverage its experience investing in the pre-seed round automotive GenAI company Impel in the course of guiding SelectFI. Impel has gone on to raise more than $100M in follow-on capital serving auto dealerships in 50+ countries.

StartFast participated in SelectFI's pre-seed raise totaling $3.5M.

We are excited to announce StartFast's investment into In-Seam!

In-Seam is a private B2B marketplace founded by fashion veteran CEO Ann Wehren to support the multi-billion dollar personal shopping market. Today in the United States there are thousands of personal shoppers individually driving hundreds of thousands of dollars in incremental revenue for luxury retailers, and yet inventory access, logistics management, and billing remain a challenge for these small business owners. 

The founding story and vision behind In-Seam forged by CEO Ann Wehren is emblematic of StartFast's thesis: back a talented CEO, who owing to their deep domain expertise, have been able to identify a multi-billion dollar market hiding in plain sight. Already, Ann's mission to empower personal shoppers has proven deeply resonant with both personal shoppers themselves and with luxury brands. 

In-Seam is rapidly scaling through word of mouth and other unpaid marketing, and counts top luxury retailers such as Dior, Khaite, and The Row among its early adopters. In-Seam expects to have over 150 brands on its platform by the end of 2023. 

StartFast participated in In-Seam's pre-seed round alongside Far Out Ventures. Prior investors include Techstars and strategic angels in fashion and e-commerce. 

We're super excited to add another world changing company to the StartFast Fund II portfolio!

CodeCombat teaches kids 6-16 to code while playing online games. Students learn naturally through gameplay and progress at their own pace through increasingly sophisticated levels, eventually creating their own games and websites.

CodeCombat is CEO and Co-Founder Nick Winter’s second startup. His first, Skritter, became the number one platform for learning to write in Chinese characters. We are believers in Nick’s mission to inspire a generation of young people to learn how to code, an increasingly crucial skill in the age of AI. The company has attracted top investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator.

The upcoming launch of CodeCombat Worlds on Roblox in August holds the potential to create new and exponential growth opportunities. Roblox is a $2.29 billion online game platform that allows users to program their own games and play games created by other users. Roblox' CEO, David Baszucki, contracted with CodeCombat to reimagine how its under-16 users would create their games within the Roblox experience.

We are impressed by how this team has persevered and adapted to thrive in difficult market conditions.  At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nick moved the company out of its San Francisco headquarters and drove the business to profitability. The founders have continued to innovate, positioning the company to take advantage of an asymmetric opportunity. These are the hallmarks of winning teams and part of the reason StartFast has joined other CodeCombat investors in a $2 million round aimed at developing both its new Roblox game and an upcoming generative AI product.

StartFast Fund II had its first exit with the recent acquisition of Patient Pattern by PointClickCare. Our Vice President, Olivia Goldstein, had the opportunity to catch up with Steve Buslovich, CEO and Co-Founder of Patient Pattern recently to discuss the big news, and his advice for founders.

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OG: Steve - great to see you and congratulations! Everyone is buzzing about the big news and I'm hoping before we dive in, you can share a little bit about what it is that Patient Pattern does.

SB: Sure, Patient Pattern is an integrated care management platform. We essentially service value based care organizations in the healthcare space that take risk for various patient populations. These are typically subsets of Medicare type plans, some of them are smaller, some of them are quite large and national. Ultimately, we provide the technology to help them run their plan operations, connect to the clinical teams out there, and then ultimately help them from everything with respect to the workflow, coding, quality, documentation, compliance and claim submission.

OG: This was your first private capital backed company and you faced the intense pressures of fundraising in a tightening market. What are some of the things you would advise other founders to be prepared for as they fundraise?

SB: I think it's fair to say that it's definitely harder to raise capital in this environment than it probably should be for successful companies. First, it's very important to navigate the rocky landscape by focusing on your customers. That's been our claim to fame that, despite any challenges, our customers have had a white glove experience. Supporting and knowing your customers is really what buttressed us throughout the years, but ultimately, through this period as well. Number two is both trust your team and spend time reevaluating the team that you have. This is the time to find the most talented team members that you can have and try to keep costs down by incentivizing them through equity offerings in lieu of salary. And number three, make sure that you have product market fit, and use this time to reevaluate whether or not what you're selling is incredibly sticky. 

OG: And what role did your board and investors play in this regard?

SB: Having a strong board is obviously important. However, there's never the right answer - there's always differences of opinion. Though, I think it's important to understand that there are sharky waters out there. So your board can come up with alternative strategies, including internally supporting the company for a longer period of time to get great adoption & greater ARRs and then helping to find the right partners. And so that's where our board has been incredibly helpful in evaluating those alternative options.

OG: What can we expect next from your team?

SB: Well, right now we're merging with a very large strategic partner and ultimately are looking to grow our team. We're hiring fairly aggressively at the moment, across different specialties, product engineering, marketing, as well as customer support and customer success. We're looking to recruit across the country, but ultimately, it would be great if we can recruit folks locally and support the local ecosystem.

OG: I love that. Thank you, Steve. We're looking forward to seeing what's next.

StartFast Ventures is thrilled to invest in Kanarys, the premier SaaS solution for companies who are serious about getting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion results. Their SaaS platform uses data and analytics to help companies identify and address areas of bias, discrimination, and inequality in their workforce. As the world becomes more aware of the importance of DEI in the workplace, Kanarys is a leader, well-positioned to make a significant impact in this space.

The events of the past few years have brought issues of systemic racism and inequality to the forefront, and many companies are actively seeking ways to address these issues within their organizations. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that companies with more diverse workforces tend to perform better financially, which provides a strong incentive for companies to prioritize DEI.

Kanarys is well-positioned to tackle this by providing a data-driven solution that can help companies improve their DEI efforts. The platform is easy to use, affordable, and scalable, making it accessible to companies of all sizes. 

CEO Mandy Price and her team have built something truly compelling and StartFast is proud to be a part of helping the company reach the next level.

Check out more here about Kanarys' Series A round.