A startup founder explains why she built 9 AI employees: 'I am a breathless OpenClaw bro'
The first time Claire Vo tried OpenClaw, it wiped her family calendar.
Now, the AI startup founder is running nine AI “employees” across a stack of computers — automating parts of her business and daily life.
Vo said in an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast” published on Sunday that she has gone from skeptic to OpenClaw believer.
“I’m just so anti-hype cycle sometimes,” she said. “I would not have expected myself to say this in January: It has changed my life.”
“I am a breathless OpenClaw bro now,” she added.
Vo said she initially used OpenClaw as a kind of executive assistant to handle scheduling, email, and day-to-day coordination.
She then expanded to a team of nine OpenClaw agents. Some focused on her business, including a salesperson and a business operations manager, and others were dedicated to her personal life, such as a family assistant to handle household logistics and a kids’ education agent.
“It’s not just a tool doing work for me. It is a team helping me look better to customers, helping me honestly show up better to my family,” she said.
Vo said that last year, she was paying someone about 10 hours a week to manage her customer relationship management system and draft customer emails — tasks now handled by one of her AI agents.
“This has real economic value to me and is real time carved back,” she added.
Still, the startup founder said she is aware of the risks, like the agent deleting files from her computer and knowing where her children go to school.
Vo said she manages that through a “progressive trust process,” gradually giving her OpenClaw agents more access over time. That starts with calendar access, then email visibility, followed by drafting and sending emails, and eventually taking on more autonomous tasks.
The OpenClaw hype
Tech leaders have been all in on autonomous agents like OpenClaw.
Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, joined OpenAI in February to work on what Sam Altman dubbed the “next generation” of personal AI agents.
Altman said in an X post in February that OpenAI expects personal AI agents to “quickly become core to our product offerings.”
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last month that every company needs to have its own “OpenClaw strategy.”
“OpenClaw has made it possible for us to create personal agents,” he said. “The implication is incredible.”
To address security concerns, Huang said in March that Nvidia has created its version of OpenClaw, called NemoClaw, which allows users to “add privacy and security controls” to their AI agents.
Still, some tech leaders have been vocal about the risks posed by OpenClaw.
Meta’s AI alignment directorSummer Yue, said in an X post in February that her OpenClaw spiraled out of control and deleted her emails — even when she tried numerous times to stop it.
“I couldn’t stop it from my phone,” Yue wrote in her post. “I had to RUN to my Mac mini like I was defusing a bomb.”