Zocdoc CEO: Will AI agents make your business more valuable or more vulnerable?
Someone on my team recently gave me the feedback, “You live 10 years in the future. Most people are doing their best to get through this week.”
TL;DR
- AI agents are experiencing exponential growth, with traffic on Zocdoc doubling approximately every 10 days.
- Companies will either become more valuable by providing differentiated products, trusted results, or transaction infrastructure for agents, or more vulnerable if their advantage relies on undifferentiated content or easily bypassed interfaces.
- Zocdoc believes AI agents will enhance its business value by leveraging its nearly twenty years of experience in connecting fragmented healthcare systems, insurance networks, and provider schedules.
- Companies like Shopify, Stripe, Airbnb, DoorDash, and Lyft are also positioned to benefit if their value lies in underlying infrastructure rather than just consumer interfaces.
- The deceptive nature of exponential growth means that by the time its magnitude is recognized, it is often too late to prepare.
- CEOs must develop a theory about the future impact of AI agents and ensure their companies are ready, rather than waiting for certainty, which poses an existential risk.