They Let AIs Run a Company: What Unfolded Speaks Volumes About the Future We’re Heading Toward

By Evelyn Hart – IDR

In an experiment conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, a team of scientists set out to test a provocative idea: What would happen if an entire company were run by artificial intelligence agents? They called it TheAgentCompany, a fictional software firm staffed exclusively with bots designed to perform everyday business tasks—no human intervention required.

The team, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, constructed a detailed simulation complete with internal communication tools, file directories, an employee handbook, and even virtual HR and tech support departments. The bots, built from models developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Alibaba, were assigned roles ranging from financial analyst and project manager to software engineer. Their job was to carry out assignments that would typically fall to human employees.