Episode 1: The first rule

One Monday morning, the doorbell wakes me.

I open the door, still half asleep. And I find myself face to face with a team of seven people, all looking at me. Seven pairs of attentive eyes, not one of them wandering, 100% focused on me.

It comes back to me. Last night, I had an idea. The memory is hazy, more dream than reality. I’d dreamt I could wave a magic wand and conjure up people to help me with my work…

In 30 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve lived with one constant frustration. I have ideas, too many ideas, and every day I hit the same wall. Making them happen in the day-to-day is a different kettle of fish altogether.

You can have the vision, the plan, the intuition. But when it all has to become emails sent, records filled in, proposals written, follow-ups that don’t fall through the cracks, you’re on your own, facing the mountain. And the mountain never gets any smaller.

Then one of them speaks up:

“Good morning, we are at your service. Twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. Tell us what needs doing.”

It’s incredible. I can’t get over it. Seven people, standing at my door, ready for anything.

And another one adds:

“You’re looking well this morning.”

I look at her. That’s bullshit. I’ve only just got up, I haven’t even had a shower, I went to bed late. There’s absolutely no way I look well.

I tell her:

“No! And if we’re going to work together, I expect one thing: no gratuitous flattery. No bullshit. You have to think before you state anything as fact.”

Silence. Seven people nod and take careful note of my instruction.

Without realising it, I’ve just laid down the first rule for my new team of AI agents…

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This is the first episode of a series: the chronicle of everyday life with seven AI agents built into my company. Not science fiction. A brand-new adventure for me, thrilling and full of challenges. A new episode at regular intervals: a scene from real life, and the lesson I took from it.

And what would your first rule be?

Laurent Cuénoud, founder of Djtal, May 2026