Bring your AI agents to Basecamp – REWORK

By 37signals

Categories: Startup, Product

Summary

37signals made Basecamp 'agent-accessible' by building a CLI tool instead of relying on browser automation—because AI agents using screenshots and image analysis are 10x slower than agents using text-based commands. Speed isn't just a feature for agents; it's the entire difference between 'worth using' and 'not worth the wait.'

Key Takeaways

1. AI agents using browser UIs via screenshot analysis are impressive but painfully slow; David tested this and estimated agents needed minutes to complete tasks users expect in seconds, making browser-based agent interaction 'at least a year out' from being practical.
2. CLI-based agent tools are 10x faster than browser UI automation because LLMs are trained on trillions of text tokens—they operate at near-native speed in text loops versus slow image-to-text reasoning required for visual interfaces.
3. Frame agent optimization as 'accessibility,' not 'AI features'—just like wheelchair ramps remove friction without changing the destination, CLI tools remove friction from agent workflows without changing agent capability.
4. Speed directly converts to adoption: the difference between 'I can't be bothered' and 'easier to ask my agent to do it' is response time. Agents under 1 second per action feel productive; agents taking minutes feel abandoned.
5. Product teams shipping 'shitty AI glued on' create consumer perception that AI = degradation. Basecamp's approach (making agents fast and purposeful) is the inverse—proving AI integration worth the friction requires removing friction first.

Topics

• Agent Accessibility & CLI Tools
• LLM Token Optimization
• AI Agent Speed Performance
• Browser Automation vs Text Interfaces
• Product Integration Strategy

Transcript Excerpt

An entire contingency of consumers have come to equate AI with product degration, with [ __ ] It's not that people hate AI. What they hate is shitty AI globed on because you want a sticker on your product. >> Welcome to Rework, a podcast by 37 Signals about the better way to work and run your business. I'm Kimberly Rhodess from the 37 Signals team joined by Jason Freed and David Heinmire Hansen. We are talking about tech things and AI things and base camp has recently been made agentfriendly. So...