Vercel's Quiet Rise to AI Central
Vercel, a company known for its cloud infrastructure that enables developers to deploy agents without managing servers, has become a pivotal player in the AI software landscape. With 6 million deployments daily, half of which are triggered by coding agents, and over 1 trillion tokens flowing through its AI gateway each day, Vercel's influence is undeniable.
Agents in Production: A New Reality
Last year, Vercel focused on prototyping, unleashing the potential of agents and encouraging development. However, as the company moved into production, they encountered challenges. The biggest lessons learned were the importance of secure data access and the need for a clear audit trail. To address these issues, Vercel developed the Eve framework, which allows users to define agents' instructions and skills in natural language. Additionally, the Vercel Sandbox provides a secure environment for agents to operate, with policies in place to control data access and output.
The Two Killer Apps of Agents
According to Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, the two killer apps of agents are coding agents and internal corporate agents. Coding agents drive token utilization, while internal corporate agents can revolutionize productivity by securely accessing data and automating tasks. For example, a sales representative can use an internal agent to prioritize their work based on growing accounts, freeing them from manual data analysis.
Separating Models from Agents
As AI labs release new tools and capabilities, they are entering direct competition with infrastructure platforms like Vercel. However, this competition is also driving the adoption of open protocols and the decoupling of models from agents. Vercel is positioning itself as the AWS of this generation, promoting a world of open protocols and modular intelligence.
The Future of AI: Open and Interoperable
The shift towards open protocols and modular intelligence will have significant implications for the industry. Companies will no longer be locked into a single provider, and the concept of 'model-as-a-service' will become the norm. As Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch notes, 'we're going to be the AWS of this generation, so obviously we're fighting for a world of open protocols.'