Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice

Founder building two apps with an AI agent team, from idea to device test. Sharing what works, what breaks and where humans still matter.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

1/ Most companies reach for AI before their processes are readable by a machine. I just walked away from a client because of it. What happened – and what I'm building instead. 🧵

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

In 2016 a startup idea needed a development team I didn't have. Today cloud and AI have merged so far that one person with a team of AI agents can build what used to take several developers. The cost of building software has collapsed, so courage is now the scarce resource.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@itsdannyyt I'd like to take a similar path once Apple finally reviews my app. Good luck with everything that comes next, I'll stay in touch and keep following your journey.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@jeffbullas AI, honestly. I spent a weekend playing around with Claude Code and saw how much potential is in it. That was my "holy shit, this changes everything" moment, with literal goosebumps on my forearms. After that, staying put felt like the bigger risk.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@georgeguimaraes @georgeguimaraes honest question, what keeps you on Notion in a world where AI can do almost everything? I dropped it from my workflows, because other tools covered the same things more simply. Curious what it still does for you that nothing else does.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@sherifgjini I picked A in 2016, right after working out a startup idea with a friend. It took me ten years to switch to B. So my honest answer is A first, and then B a lot later than I should have.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@vassallo Optimism alone didn't get me moving. In 2016 I believed in my idea and still took the safe job. What I was missing was exactly that low tolerance, and it took me ten more years to find it.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@nicomoel I'd add one thing from my own case. The knowledge was never my bottleneck. In 2016 I had the idea and the years of experience, but no development team. Today one person with a team of AI agents can build it, so I expect a lot more of these founders.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@georgeguimaraes This took me straight back to my childhood. My agents have names too, Tessa tests my apps on iOS and Android, but none of them is as cool as Splinter running the show. I hope Michelangelo gets pizza when the build goes green.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@mikehostetler Only pizza...

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@karthiknish For me it comes down to who checks. The agent that builds something is never the one that checks it, and what goes live stays my call. And wherever security is touched, a human should always be involved. I wouldn't hand that over.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@harrisonju Good that you measured it. Mine keep going while I'm away too, but a good part of that time is them waiting for me. Anything that needs my decision gets parked and the rest moves on. I'd be curious how much of your 11% was real progress.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

Eight months ago I built a trading app framework in one weekend without writing a line of code. My first thought afterwards was that the two-week sprint might be dead.

Today agents take my ideas through concept, plan and user stories with test scenarios. I still group stories into sprints out of habit, but I really plan per feature, because most features are done in a few days.

What I didn't expect is where the time went instead. Most of it now goes into reviews and decisions, and that's the part I'd never hand to an agent.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@mathiasvrb Fair, and that job paid mine too. Looking back, the bills weren't what stopped me though. The safe path just felt easier than the idea, and I didn't dare.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

In 2016 I had just quit and was lying in a hotel room with an ice pack on my leg when the news came that I was released effective immediately. I worked out a startup idea with a friend and then took the next consulting job, because the safe path felt easier than the idea.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@harikesh_devops And that is actually the hard part, which everyone forgets throughout all the AI coding hype. If you are capable to create products conpletely by your own, who is challenging your own BS?

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@iamnataleia Totally. So this is the moment for @Apple to rethink their App Store approval process.

[Markus Ludwig | AI Agents in Practice @MarkusDerFreie]

@iamnataleia Thanks, much appreciated. I actually called Apple Dev Support today. Seems there are too many like minded out there!