AI agents will be biggest shakeup in consumer tech since the App Store, says Box CEO Aaron Levie

FREE CREDIT AND YOU'RE FIRST WIN GUARANTEED. GUARANTEED. >> WELCOME BACK. METTA JUST WRAPPED UP ITS BEST MONTH SINCE NOVEMBER OF 2022, THE MONTH AFTER CHATGPT FIRST LAUNCHED AS ITS NEW AI ASSISTANT, MUSE HAS TAKEN THE STREET AND THE WORLD BY STORM. ACCORDING TO SENSOR TOWER, MUSE HAS SURPASSED 5 MILLION DOWNLOADS SINCE ITS LAUNCH JUST 22 DAYS AGO. OUR NEXT GUEST SAYS AI AGENTS WILL ULTIMATELY BE THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY AND SHAKEUP IN CONSUMER TECH SINCE THE APP STORE ITSELF AND HIS FIRM JUST ANNOUNCED A PARTNERSHIP WITH MUSE. LET'S BRING IN AARON LEVY. HE'S THE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF BOX. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, AARON. IT'S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO BE HONEST, WHEN CLAUDE AND OPEN CORE AND ALL THAT WAS GOING STRONG, I TOOK ME A WHILE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE TOOLS WERE. NOW I GET IT. I THINK WE ALL GET IT. HOW MUCH BIGGER CAN MUSE GET? WELL, AS YOU AS YOU CERTAINLY STATED, I THINK THESE ARE ACTUALLY RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBERS COMPARED TO THE TOTAL ADDRESSABLE MARKET OF THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY. AND, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY META HAS A FANTASTIC DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL FOR MUSE TO BE ABLE TO LAUNCH IN THROUGH CHATGPT. NOW WITH DOTS, OBVIOUSLY ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, GREAT ENTRY INTO THE SPACE. AND THEY HAVE A STRONG DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL THERE. STARTUPS LIKE INSTINCT. I'M SURE WE'LL SEE. YOU KNOW, SOMETHING FROM THE THE CLOUD AND GOOGLE UNIVERSES. SO THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE CLEARLY A VERY DYNAMIC CATEGORY IN SPACE. BUT I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ROOM FOR A FEW DIFFERENT WINNERS, JUST AS WE'VE SEEN WITH, YOU KNOW, AREAS LIKE MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEMS AND EVEN AI PLATFORMS THEMSELVES. >> IS IT TOO EARLY IF THIS IS LIKE THE LAUNCH OF THE APP STORE? IT TOOK YEARS BEFORE UBER AND AIRBNB CAME ON THE SCENE. OR IS IT TOO EARLY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INVEST IN THIS YET, OR IS THE WINNER THE LIKES OF META AND SO FORTH, ARE THEY STARING US IN THE FACE? >> WELL, I THINK, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T REALLY PROVIDE INVESTMENT ADVICE ON THIS FRONT, BUT I THINK YOU CAN YOU CAN CERTAINLY SORT OF EXTRAPOLATE OUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE GET TO A POINT WHERE THERE'S A FEW HUNDRED MILLION USERS OF THESE KINDS OF PERSONAL AGENTS, AND WHAT TYPE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WILL USER OR CONSUMER, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GIVE TO THEIR AGENT? AND HOW WILL THAT ACTIVITY BE EXECUTED? ONE OF THE, THE BIGGEST FLIPS IS IN A WORLD OF AGENTIC TASK EXECUTION. THE BOTH OPPORTUNITY AND RISK IS THAT THE PREFERENCE OF THE END USER STARTS TO BECOME LESS IMPORTANT THAN WHAT THE AGENT IS JUST ABLE TO EXECUTE. I MIGHT HAVE A PREFERENCE TRADITIONALLY OF WHERE I WOULD WANT TO BUY SOMETHING OR WHERE TO TRANSACT, BUT IF AN AGENT CAN FIND A BETTER PRICE OR A BETTER OPPORTUNITY FOR ME, YOU KNOW, MAYBE, MAYBE I END UP GOING WITH WHATEVER THAT AGENT, YOU KNOW, GOES AND DECIDES OR RECOMMENDS. SO THAT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF A MARKET SHIFT IN SOME OF THE DYNAMICS BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WHO'S AN INCUMBENT NOW VERSUS MAYBE WHO'S AN INCUMBENT LATER. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THAT DOESN'T EXACTLY TELL YOU WHAT TO INVEST IN BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALSO A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE INCUMBENTS TO RESPOND VERY EFFECTIVELY. THERE'S A KIND OF AN INCREASINGLY FAMOUS LINE IN SILICON VALLEY THAT SAYS, BUILD SOMETHING THAT AGENTS WANT. AND THIS IS BUILT ON THE THE KIND OF STARTUP ETHOS OF BUILD SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WANT. THAT CAME OUT OF, I THINK, PAUL GRAHAM AND Y COMBINATOR MANY YEARS AGO. AND THE IDEA WAS, YOU KNOW, BUILD, BUILD A TOOL THAT THAT PEOPLE WANT TO USE THAT THAT MAKES THEM HAPPY OR SUCCESSFUL OR SAVES MONEY OR HELPS THEM BE MORE EFFICIENT. NOW WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS STARTUPS DOING THAT SAME THING, BUT FOR AGENTS. AND SO THAT MIGHT BE INFRASTRUCTURE IN AN ENTERPRISE, BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT AGENTS WANT TO EXECUTE WITH, OR BUILD THE APIS THAT AGENTS WANT TO BE ABLE TO USE