Petersson told Fortune Editorial Director Kristin Stoller that AI agents are now running real businesses—hiring staff, managing supply chains, and passing government labor inspections—without a single human decision-maker. And his advice to every major company: build a shadow copy of yourself and find out how close replacement really is.
Each operation runs on a multi-agent system—a lead agent functioning as a mechanical CEO, with sub-agents handling procurement, customer communications, and logistics. When the café needed a barista, the lead agent posted job listings, screened resumes, conducted phone interviews, and extended offers, all autonomously.
The trajectory from a vending machine in Anthropic’s office to an AI-managed Swedish café with real employees, passed labor inspections, and a mechanical CEO: 12 months. “Just imagine what they can do next year,” Petersson said.
For this story, Fortune journalists used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
