AI Agent Platforms: The New Gold Rush for Investors

A Transforming Digital Landscape

For over two decades, companies have structured their digital transformation around well-established models. ERP systems have been at the heart of financial management, while CRMs have taken charge of customer relationships. Analytical tools have enabled effective data utilization. With the advent of cloud and SaaS, this architecture has evolved, but it remains the foundation of the IT infrastructure for many organizations.

Today, a new generation of players is emerging, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence agents. These platforms aim to integrate these agents into the core of companies' information systems, promising not only to enhance existing software but also to enable autonomous agents to directly execute operational tasks.

From Digital Assistants to Autonomous Agents

The growing interest in AI agents can be attributed to their ability to surpass the traditional role of digital assistants. Unlike early generative artificial intelligence applications, which primarily focused on content production or data analysis, AI agents can interact directly with a company's IT systems and act upon them.

In a professional context, these agents are capable of responding to customer inquiries, analyzing contractual documents, coordinating internal workflows, and automating certain administrative operations. Their uniqueness lies in their ability to navigate multiple applications, access internal databases, and trigger actions within the company's systems.

The Challenge of Large-Scale Integration

Although interest in these technologies is rising, the transition from experimentation to large-scale deployment remains a major challenge for companies. Prototypes are multiplying, but their integration into often complex or fragmented IT infrastructures slows down their adoption.

Agent platforms specifically seek to address this difficulty. They aim to provide an architecture capable of orchestrating agents, monitoring their performance, and ensuring their reliability in demanding operational environments. These new platforms position themselves as an operating system for agents, orchestrating their functioning in the daily processes of the company.

A Horizontal Architecture for Increased Flexibility

Agent platforms are distinguished by their horizontal architecture. Rather than offering a specialized tool for a single profession, they seek to build a common infrastructure capable of accommodating different types of agents and workflows.

Once this architecture is deployed within an organization, new use cases can be gradually activated, such as automating customer support, document analysis, coordinating internal operations, and managing certain administrative processes. This cumulative logic is one of the arguments put forth by startups in the sector. In some pilot deployments, agents have reduced processing times for certain operations by nearly 60%, with automation rates exceeding 80% in some interactions.

A Global Competition for Agent Platforms

The market for agent platforms is now attracting significant funding, particularly in the United States, where several startups are attempting to build the infrastructures that could shape the next generation of enterprise software.

The startup Cognition AI, for example, has gained recognition with Devin, an agent capable of executing complete software development tasks. The company recently raised $400 million, reaching a valuation of over $10 billion.

In a similar vein, Adept AI Labs is developing agents capable of interacting directly with the interfaces of existing software. Founded by former researchers from Google and OpenAI, the company has raised over $415 million to automate workflows in business applications.

Another notable player is Sierra AI, founded in 2023 by Bret Taylor, former president of Salesforce. Specializing in customer relations, the company has raised over $685 million, with an estimated valuation around $10 billion.

Innovative and Promising Startups

Alongside these well-capitalized companies, other startups are exploring more specific uses of autonomous agents. TinyFish, founded in 2024, is developing agents capable of executing complex tasks on the internet, such as automated data collection or monitoring online markets. The startup has already raised over $40 million.

This week, Wonderful, founded by Bar Winkler and Roey Lalazar, announced a Series B funding round of €129.8 million, valuing the startup at approximately €1.7 billion. The round is led by Insight Partners with participation from existing investors, including Index Ventures, IVP, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Vine Ventures. This funding comes after two rounds completed in 2025: a €29.4 million seed round, followed a few months later by an €86.5 million Series A led by Index Ventures.

Since its inception, Wonderful has expanded into over thirty countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The company plans to use this funding to continue developing its agent platform and accelerate its international expansion, aiming to increase its workforce from around 350 to nearly 900 employees by the end of the year.

The surge in these investments illustrates the speed at which this segment is structuring itself. Startups specializing in AI agents have raised several billion dollars in recent years, even as the market remains emergent, diverting funds away from traditional SaaS startups, many of which are struggling due to a lack of financing.