Major AI Agent Launches

U.S. startup Genspark made waves with its "Super Agent" release, designed to compete with China’s Manus system. This platform uses a Mixture-of-Agents approach, blending 8 language models and 80 toolkits to handle complex real-world tasks. In a demo, it autonomously booked a hotel room by making actual phone calls – a first for consumer-focused AI agents. Meanwhile, Microsoft opened registrations for its AI Agents Hackathon 2025, offering training on Semantic Kernel and Azure AI Agents SDK. Developers can compete in tracks for Python, Java, C#, and Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations, accelerating practical applications of agentic AI.

Enterprise Adoption Accelerates

ServiceNow reported that its AI agents now resolve 80% of customer support cases independently – up from 65% last quarter. This has led to $325 million in annual savings by reducing 400,000 labor hours. The company credits its recent acquisition of Chicago-based Logik.ai, which specializes in conversational AI for retail banking. In financial services, Visa piloted AI shopping agents in Chicago that automatically negotiate better prices on electronics and furniture for users.

Global Startup Ecosystem Growth

South Korea unveiled KRW 150 million grants under its "Super-Gap AI Startup Growth Strategy", focusing on sLLMs (small language models), manufacturing AI, and bio-AI collaborations. This aligns with global trends where compact, specialized AI agents outperform general-purpose models in specific tasks. In the U.S., Orby AI earned a spot on CB Insights’ 2025 AI 100 List for its Large Action Model (LAM) technology that converts company workflows into autonomous agents. The report noted 21 of the top 100 startups now specialize in AI agent platforms.

Industry Events & Trends

At Startup Grind 2025, Brightwave CEO Mike Conover demonstrated how agentic AI now replicates human reasoning in finance – analyzing deals, testing hypotheses, and writing reports like seasoned analysts. Chicago’s tech scene saw $1.2 billion in funding for AI startups, including Ocient’s $132 million round for AI-powered data analytics. The city also passed new AI safety laws requiring transparency in agent decision-making processes.

Emerging Players

London-based Mindset AI opened its first U.S. office in Chicago after raising £4.3 million, offering no-code tools to create AI agents for SaaS companies. CEO Barrie Hadfield stated: *"We’re making AI agent creation as easy as writing a Google Doc"*. Cybersecurity firm Octane launched a blockchain-based platform to secure AI agent networks, backed by $6.75 million in seed funding.

These developments highlight a global shift from task-based AI to agentic systems that plan, reason, and adapt – with startups driving innovation across healthcare, finance, and customer service.