Automation – mycode

AI Agents for Engineering Managers: Actual AI Raises Seed Funding

Engineering managers are facing unprecedented challenges as artificial intelligence transforms software development. To address this, Seattle startup Actual AI has secured $3.2 million in seed funding led by AlleyCorp. The company is developing autonomous agents designed to assist engineering managers in navigating the complexities of AI-driven development.

Traditional AI coding tools, while streamlining certain tasks, have introduced new management needs – increased manual review, coordination requirements, and ongoing maintenance issues. Actual AI’s agent automates recurring management duties, including issue triaging, sprint summaries, code review routing, and architectural consistency enforcement. It also aims to reduce dependence on senior engineers and support the development of junior developers.

‘We’re building an engineering manager agent that actually brings guardrails to AI-powered software development,’ stated CEO John Kennedy.

The company targets organizations with 50 to 500 developers and currently boasts 32 active pilot programs along with initial revenue streams. AlleyCorp partner Kenneth Auchenberg highlighted the growing imbalance: ‘Managers are outnumbered, and it’s created bottlenecks that are killing productivity.’

Actual AI’s approach differs from traditional data dashboards, focusing on automation rather than simple reporting. CEO John Kennedy explains, ‘A lot of engineering managers want to be player-coaches.’

Key investors include AlleyCorp, Irregular Expressions, G2C Ventures, and prominent angel investors such as Bobby Jaffari (former Freshworks Americas president) and Bede Jordan (former Shelf Engine CTO).

Actual AI’s recent recognition came from GeekWire’s Startup Radar series.

Siddhartha Srinivasa Bets on Seattle’s Robotics Future

Siddhartha “Sidd” Srinivasa, a robotics pioneer with a career spanning Berkshire Grey, Amazon, and Cruise, is now joining Madrona Venture Group as a venture partner. Srinivasa believes Seattle is poised to become a global leader in AI and robotics, driven by advancements in hardware, compute power, and foundational models. However, he highlights a key challenge: the ‘last mile problem’ – robots can handle basic tasks, but scaling to complex, real-world applications remains difficult. Srinivasa emphasizes the need for breakthroughs in generalization and adaptability in robots, suggesting alternative form factors beyond the humanoid. He identifies sectors like fulfillment, computational agriculture, and commissary kitchens as potential disruptors. Srinivasa stresses the importance of a ‘pull’ – genuine customer need – for robotics, rather than simply ‘pushing’ the technology. He also cautions against applying the software model to robotics, acknowledging the unique challenges of maintaining and servicing physical robots. Srinivasa underscores the necessity of workforce re-skilling to mitigate potential job displacement and positions Seattle as a uniquely supportive ecosystem for robotics innovation, capitalizing on strong university partnerships and a thriving venture capital landscape.

AI Assistant Howie Streamlines Meeting Scheduling and Secures $6 Million in Funding

The startup Howie, an AI-powered scheduling assistant, has publicly launched and already boasts over 1,000 paying customers. The tool, designed to eliminate the back-and-forth of traditional email scheduling, operates within users’ existing email inboxes. Howie proactively coordinates meeting times, adds events to calendars, and even flags potential scheduling conflicts.

Initially, the company, based in Seattle, secured $6 million in seed funding, led by True Ventures. Notable investors also included Jason Calacanis, Aravind Srinivas (CEO of Perplexity), and Rahul Vohra (Superhuman). The software works by allowing users to simply cc Howie on email threads, automating the entire process.

Howie caters to a diverse clientele, including startup founders, venture capitalists, journalists, and consultants. The system learns users’ preferences through customizable documents, allowing it to tailor scheduling to specific needs – for example, automatically setting pitch calls to 25 minutes and utilizing Zoom.

Behind the scenes, Howie utilizes multiple advanced language models, escalating complex cases to human reviewers to ensure accuracy and reliability. The service is offered at $25 per month for the standard plan and $95 per month for the premium version, which includes features like renaming Howie.

Founded by Austin Petersmith and Dave Newman, the team initially developed the concept in 2015, recognizing the right market opportunity now. The nine-person team includes experienced founders and alumni from Y Combinator. The company has experienced impressive growth, with monthly recurring revenue and usage increasing by an average of 50% month-over-month as of 2025.