How agentic AI could reshape what it means to be a founder

The narrative around artificial intelligence (AI) is often dominated by concerns over job displacement at large corporations. But as we transition from generative to agentic AI – self-directed systems capable of autonomous reasoning, multi-step planning, persistent execution and goal-directed action – a radically different paradigm has emerged.

Rather than outsourcing isolated tasks, people are delegating entire layers of execution work to agentic AI.

This shift frees human leaders to focus entirely on vision, strategy and imagination. By taking over the heavy lifting of execution, agentic AI could collapse traditional barriers to starting and scaling a business.

In early 2026, my fellow Davis Polk alum Zack Shapiro went viral on X with his post, The Claude-Native Law Firm: How I Actually Practice Law with AI in 2026. It received millions of views for its bold premise that a small, two-person firm could outperform large, legacy corporate law firms by deeply integrating Anthropic's Claude AI into its workflow.

Indeed, a single senior lawyer equipped with tools like Anthropic’s newly released Claude Opus 4.7 can now deploy a full virtual team of AI colleagues. These agents could autonomously draft contracts, conduct research, review documents, flag risks, manage workflows, and handle client communications on a 24/7 schedule.

Meanwhile, the human lawyer could reclaim their time for high-judgment strategy, empathetic counsel and creative problem-solving.

To understand the mechanics of this global shift, look to the High Renaissance. Michelangelo famously dedicated intense, singular focus to monumental projects such as the design of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. But another Italian painter and architect, Raphael, took a radically different approach. Rather than physically painting every stroke of his frescoes himself, he ran multiple workshops concurrently with dozens of skilled associates and apprentices.

These collaborators executed detailed frescoes, translating his masterfully sketched designs into realities, such as those in the Vatican’s Raphael Rooms. Raphael oversaw the unique creative vision, composition and final touches across many projects simultaneously.

Today, a single founder can now direct multiple teams of specialized AI agents, each handling distinct ideas or ventures. This enables one person to pursue and manage several creative projects or companies at once.

You are the master creator, the AI agents are your scalable associates.

To fully harness this shift, legal and economic frameworks must evolve to support the "super individual" – the solo founder empowered by AI. China offers one example of how this model could evolve in practice, with the rise of the one-person company (OPC).

China’s revised Company Law, effective July 2024, made exactly this pivot. It cancelled earlier restrictions to allow a citizen to establish multiple one-person limited liability companies. It also streamlined registration, offered governance flexibility and strengthened creditor protections.

By removing these historical bottlenecks, the state actively built the infrastructure for the agentic era. Today, local governments are racing to build OPC communities by offering free office space and computing-power vouchers. Guangdong province aims to create 100 AI-OPC communities by 2028. More generally, new OPC registrations have surged dramatically, turning the formula of “individual + AI agents = company” into reality.

With supportive legal structures like the OPC, this revolution could easily extend to physical global trade. Alibaba International’s enterprise AI agent Accio Work, for example, now powers over 230,000 online stores globally and has surpassed 10 million monthly active users. It functions as a full-stack digital workforce for solo founders.

Its specialized AI agents collaborate as an agentic business team, handling market analysis, product ideation, supplier matching, negotiation, logistics, payments and store management on platforms like Shopify and Amazon. Alibaba.com President Kuo Zhang recently highlighted how Accio agents plans to partner with specialized US AI models to handle country-specific legal and financial requirements.

Accio Work already autonomously processes customs paperwork, VAT filings, tax refunds and compliance documentation across more than 100 markets. This legal-intelligence layer means founders can navigate complex cross-border rules with minimal friction, enabling one person to scale multiple global ventures simultaneously.

Enthusiasm for AI runs high. Research from digital marketing and AI company WSI's 2025 AI Business Insights Report shows 81% of small businesses are excited about its potential. But daily adoption remains lower due to steep learning curves and trust concerns around data privacy. Agentic platforms are designed to close this gap by embedding AI as collaborative teammates rather than standalone tools.

As I noted in my recent Bloomberg Law analysis of the OpenClaw agent framework, however, agentic AI is in an “iPhone 1.0 moment”. It has transformative capabilities today, but the full legal and regulatory infrastructure required for AI fiduciaries is still evolving. This new paradigm demands responsible design, clear human-in-the-loop governance, and ethical guardrails to ensure agents remain loyal extensions of human intent.

The parallel between agentic AI and Raphael’s workshop is unmistakable. The implications, however, are profound – and global.

Paired with supportive frameworks like China’s OPC model and the rise of the super individual, agentic AI could democratize entrepreneurship on an unprecedented scale. Solo lawyers in New York or Nairobi could compete with large traditional firms. Village-based SMEs in Pakistan or Vietnam could source and trade like multinationals.

In the agentic era, the Renaissance-era workshop is now digital, it's also becoming policy-supported and open to anyone with a vision. AI agents handle execution, while founders focus on creation. The only question remaining is: What will you create with your agentic AI-fuelled workshops?