Déjà Vu in Tech: The Agentic AI Trap

How to Break the Loop and Build Something That Lasts

Ever feel like tech trends are on a loop?

Remember when everyone and their grandma wanted to be a portal? You'd visit some homepage jam-packed with weather, news, stock tickers, and a cute puppy of the day, that is until Google came along with a single search bar and ate everyone's lunch. Portals were supposed to be the ultimate digital destination, the homepage you woke up to and the last page you closed at night. AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, those were the cool kids and everyone wanted to be them. But then, simplicity won. A clean interface, no clutter, and quick results. Google understood something fundamental: convenience beats clutter every single time.

Fast forward a few years, and the buzz shifted from portals to platforms. Everything became a platform overnight, advertising platforms, consumer platforms, even "marketplace platforms" that were basically fancy portals with a login page and some APIs. Platforms promised to be the central hub connecting businesses, customers, and third-party developers. Suddenly everyone was building APIs, integrating third-party solutions, and proclaiming themselves indispensable. Yet, much like portals before them, success was elusive. Why? Because a platform isn't just something you decide to be overnight. It has to evolve naturally. It has to solve real problems better than anyone else before it earns the right to become indispensable.

Look at the platform champions today. Salesforce didn't start by saying, "Hey we're a platform!" They were busy becoming the best CRM tool around. Facebook was just a way to connect with classmates before it evolved into the backbone of social media advertising. Amazon didn't wake up and declare itself the king of cloud computing; they first built the most convenient way to buy books online. In each case, the company started by solving a specific, critical problem exceptionally well. Becoming a platform was just the next logical step.

And now, we're in the era of Agentic AI. Companies are tripping over themselves to build AI Agents that do everything from scheduling meetings and managing your emails to acting as therapists. The air is thick with ambition and venture capital cash. But here's the kicker, this Agentic race feels suspiciously familiar. It's like I've seen this movie before. My POV… just like portals and platforms before them, most Agentic hopefuls are destined for the tech scrap heap.

Here's the thing: if you're thinking of jumping into the Agentic AI game in 2025, pause. Think. Reflect. Because the odds aren't exactly stacked in your favor. There's already a handful of billion-dollar companies throwing around enough cash and hype to make your modest startup look like a lemonade stand. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon; they've all got their agents out in the wild, backed by the kind of budgets that could buy small islands. The landscape is already crowded, noisy, and competitive. If you're jumping into the space what's your edge?

I'm sure most businesses would agree with the odds but recognize there's a penalty for not doing anything; and I agree. So don't chuck your AI dreams out the window just yet. History gives us a pretty clear blueprint on how to win, or at least survive, in this latest tech frenzy. Platforms didn't win by screaming, "I'm a platform." Instead, they quietly dominated the core functionality first. AI Agents will follow the same path. Your best bet isn't competing head-to-head with Manus or OpenAI's Operator. Instead, create a specialized, undeniably awesome AI Agent that makes users' lives noticeably better. Focus on specific tasks or niches, things that big, generalized AI agents don't handle perfectly. Maybe you're perfecting an agent for healthcare appointment scheduling or an AI expert in analyzing specialized financial data. Specificity and mastery of a niche are your competitive advantages.

Then, and only then, can you think about the broader integrations. Realize that unless you've been building AI systems for the last decade, your opportunity to take on the behemoths is slim. Instead, leverage new tools and standards, like Google's A2A protocol or MCP servers to smoothly integrate your solutions where users already are. MCP servers (Model Context Protocol) serve as secure hubs that enable seamless data sharing and collaboration between different systems and agents, ensuring smooth interoperability while maintaining robust privacy and security standards. Google's A2A (Agent-to-Agent) protocol, on the other hand, facilitates standardized communication between different AI agents, allowing them to interact efficiently regardless of their proprietary frameworks.

This is how you avoid becoming just another failed agent chasing unattainable dreams. Interoperability is key, your specialized agent should integrate easily into the larger ecosystems that inevitably will dominate corporate desktops and smartphones.

This integration is critical. Think about it: users are creatures of habit. They're not going to switch agents just because your marketing pitch is slick. They’ll stick with what's already integrated into their workflow unless you offer something undeniably better, simpler, or significantly more valuable. And even then, the path of least resistance usually wins.

Meeting customers exactly where they hang out is always a smarter play than trying to drag them kicking and screaming to your shiny new Agentic platform. It's not about being flashy; it's about being seamlessly useful. Having an agent is cool, but being useful? That's timeless.

And speaking of timelessness, remember that technology is fundamentally about improving human workflows. Don't get caught chasing the hype; instead, build solutions deeply rooted in real-world utility. Solve genuine, specific problems. Your users don't care if you're powered by the latest LLM or quantum computing, they just want things to work better than before. They want fewer headaches, less complexity, and more results.

History suggests the race will have plenty of casualties. But it also tells us clearly: focus on the user, perfect the niche, integrate smartly, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself riding the next wave rather than being swept away by it.