The Rise Of The Solopreneur In The Age Of Autonomous Agents

Due to a rise in demand for both flexibility and autonomy within the workplace, there has been an uptick in the presence of solopreneurs. According to an article in the US Chamber of Commerce, a solopreneur is an individual building and running a business on their own without any employees. They handle every aspect of the business, including delivering the work, marketing, and customer service. 

Thanks to technology and artificial intelligence, AI, solopreneurs can now get started and hit the ground running. Furthermore, with the now lower barrier to entry, solopreneurs can start, grow, and scale with the help of autonomous agents. A study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the nation’s 29.8 million solopreneurs, businesses with no paid employees, contribute $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy, representing 6.8% of total economic activity.

Mark Valentino, Los Angeles-based head of business banking for Citizens Bank, chatted with CNBC, regarding the fact that he has seen a large increase in business loan applications for solopreneurs. In that same article, Angela Berardino credits AI with being able to strike out on her own as the solo founder of boutique marketing firm Brouhaha Collective. “I know, everything is AI these days, but at a startup level: AI has given me an army of admins and interns that take notes on calls, do first rounds of research, and help me analyze large data sets,” stated Angela Beraridino.

An article by, 21AI, an AI development company, defines autonomous agents as AI systems capable of performing tasks and making decisions independently, once given a defined objective. They are designed to operate without ongoing human input, using available context to act in real time.

Furthermore, in the world of a solopreneur, autonomous agents allow for a vast landscape of opportunity. Meta’s head of business AI, Clara Shih, told CNBC, “The more AI does, the less people have to do, at least in traditional definitions of roles.”

Technology has granted several liberties. The ability to leverage skill, creativity, and a bit of elbow grease is allowing individuals to walk away from the traditional 9-5 work model. Specifically, paired with the access to use of a laptop coupled with the ladder, individuals now have access to entrepreneurship. With the power of autonomous agents, one set of hands can easily do the work of an infinite number of people. Making possibilities within the entrepreneur model essentially endless.

To further elaborate, this quote summarizes it all perfectly: “Solopreneurship also responds to rapid changes in the labor market, where skills and creativity are more valuable than organizational structures”, said Najiba Benabess, the business dean at Neumann University.

The rise of solopreneurship is being led by women. It is no surprise that women are leading this charge in this wave of flexibility, ownership, and realignment of what success looks like. An article by Biz Journals, a media outlet, shares that due to several factors, including:

• care taking responsibility
• a desire for ownership
• the need for flexibility
• unsatisfactory work-life balance
• the yearning for control
• a shift in what defines “success.”
• increasing fragility in job security
• decreased room for diversity and accommodation

Overall, women are not opting out of the workplace, it is the opposite, women are electing to build a career that has promise of longevity, sustainably and void of hierarchy. Although the future is not promised, the increasing number of women jumping on the solopreneurship bandwagon tells a clear story. It appears as if a huge shift in what work looks like is happening, and artificial intelligence is making room, closing gaps, and offering a leg up for those looking to join the movement.